Of Their Past
by Willow Fireheart
Summary: SG1BTVS X-OVER. Daniel finds a plate on another planet and calls his buddy Rupert Giles to help translate it, meanwhile what is Al, their new team member, doing in Sunnydale stabbing people with wooden sticks and what exactly does Jack have against Giles?
1. Chapter 1 Alexander Harris A New Member

OF THEIR PAST.

Spoilers- some general spoilers for seasons 1-3, AU season 4 (Anya didn't return, Xander joined the army, Tara and Willow did not get together and the whole ADAM thing occurred while Xander was on leave) and I may throw in some AU season 5.

Disclaimer- I in no way, shape or form own any of the characters or setting used in this story, they belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc (Buffy and Angel) and Stargate belongs to whomever it belongs to.

Setting- Two years after season 4.

Pairings- X/W, A/C, B/Wes and maybe some hints of Jack/Sam.

Note- please forgive my lack of knowledge when it comes to the army, what I don't know I make up so just go with me on this.

**

Alarms blared as the iris opened and the wormhole plunged into the room. It settled back into the gate, rippling slightly. A strange slurping noise was heard as five figures stepped out onto the ramp. Smoke followed them ad they made their way down the ramp. Col. O'Neil coughed and slapped at his clothes to remove the soot. 

General Hammond rushed into the room. "Good Lord, what happened to you?" 

Dr Jackson moved forward with an oval plate in his hands. "It's seems that the G'ould didn't want us to take this."  

General Hammond looked them over carefully. "Alright, go for your check up and then come to the debriefing room, immediately. Don't even stop to get changed, the President wants to speak to you."

The team dispersed after the call, it turned out that he had just wanted to congratulate them on a job well done after they had stooped the G'ould from taking over the Earth, yet again. The four men trudged into the male showers and slumped onto the benches. Daniel and Teal'c headed towards the showers, while Jack remained seated and the recent addition to their team opened his locker and pulled out a small box. He slumped back onto the bench, his dark head bent over as he stared at the box. 

Jack looked over at him. "You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders, son. Anything I can do?" Jack asked. 

He didn't know why but he liked this kid, maybe because he reminded him of himself when he was young, or maybe it was because of the way the boy had reacted to all this. Getting pulled out of training and told that aliens were real and that you were going to be fighting them; it would have to be a shock. But this kid just took it all in his stride, he was a good fighter too. Never left anyone in the field, and could get out of pretty much any situation. That's why they moved him up to SG1; he was too good to be wasted on the other teams when he could be helping the best.

Xander looked over at Jack and smiled wearily. This guy kind of reminded him of Giles, always wanting to look after everyone else but never wanting anyone to worry about him. 

Xander held up the box. "I'm going home tomorrow, on leave. Going to ask my girlfriend to marry me." 

Jack whistled. "That's a big step for someone your age. Your only 22, right?" 

Xander shook his head. "23, but I can't wait anymore. I've known her forever and at first she was scared that I was going to leave her. Her previous boyfriend cheated on her and left. Then I was afraid that she was going to leave me. She's so funny, smart, beautiful, talent, why would she want me? But I'm going to do it. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow and I don't want to die without her knowing that I'm never going to leave her."

 Jack looked over at him impressed. "So why the long face?"  

Xander grinned self-consciously. "Sudden attack of nerves over the ring."

 Jack laughed. "Sorry, can't help you with that. Why don't you ask Sam?"

Xander raced through the halls of the Star Gate compound. Catching sight of a blonde head he swerved to the right, almost knocking people over. "Major Carter, Major Carter!"

 Sam stopped and turned to see an out of breath Xander. Skidding to a stop he placed his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. "I've been all over the compound looking for you."

 Sam smiled. "Really? What can I do for you Al?"  

Xander looked around then pulled her into an empty room. "I have a favour to ask of you. You see I go on leave tonight. I'm going home for a while since we got that plate thingy and translating those things always takes ages. Anyway I've got this girlfriend and we've been going out for some time and tomorrow I'm going to ask her to marry and I'm worried that she won't like the ring and could you just take a look at it and tell me what you think, if it's not to much trouble?"

 Sam smiled again. This was the most he had said in a long time about something that wasn't to do with battles. The first time he had voluntarily spoken about his home too. "Sure Al. It's no problem at all." 

A wide grin stretched over Xander's face, which turned into a frown as he started patting down his pockets to find the ring. With a sigh of relief he found it in his hand and passed it over.

Sam opened the small velvet box and sighed at the beauty of the ring. It was silver with a willow tree carved on the front of it. 

Xander looked over at her anxiously. "Her name's Willow, hence the-." He pointed at the ring. 

Sam sighed again. "It's beautiful Al, she'll love it." 

Xander's face lit up. "Really, thanks." Xander looked down at his watch. "Oh no, I gotta go the bus'll be here any moment. Bye!" Xander rushed off back to his room and grabbed his bag. He raced up to the bus stop as if the hounds of hell were on his heels.


	2. Chapter 2 A Heroic Homecoming

                                   OF THEIR PAST 

          CHAPTER 2

Disclaimer- the characters belong to their inventors, not me. One more time, they are not mine.

**

Captain Alexander Harris stepped off the bus. He looked around and smiled, 'Good old Sunnydale bus deport'.  The honking of a car horn caught his attention.

 "Hey Uncle Rory, thanks for looking after the car." He threw his bag into the back but stopped before actually getting in the car. "You know I might go find Will and Buffy if you don't mind?" 

His Uncle Rory smiled at him. "No prob, you staying at Willow's?"  Xander nodded and waved as his uncle drove off. He began to whistle to him as he made his way to the cemetery were he knew Buffy and Willow would be at this time of night.

*********************************************************

Buffy and Willow wandered around Restfield cemetery waiting for a vamp to rise. Buffy sang quietly to herself while Willow stared into space, a sly smile across her lips.

 "Hi ho, hi ho, off hunting vamps I go!" Buffy's brow wrinkled. "Do you think they could sue me if I used it as my theme song? Will, Willow?"

 Buffy looked at her friend with concern. "Willow look there's Angel in a pair of black leather pants, with no shirt! Hhmm. Willow look Xander's strutting around in only a pair of black leather pants." 

Willow looked up with a big grin on her face. Then scowled. "Buffy, that wasn't fair!" 

 Buffy grinned wickedly. "Maybe not but it got you to pay attention. And vamp!" 

Buffy pointed behind Willow and grabbed her stake. Willow scrambled up and took a defense stance. The vamp's surrounded them and they could barely stop themselves from vamping at the thought of all that young, sweet blood.

                        ********************************************

_MEANWHILE AT STARGATE COMPOUND_

Daniel ran his hands through his hair. There was no way he could translate this, he had barely any knowledge in this language. He picked up the phone and called the General. "General Hammond, I need your permission to contact an outside source on this plate. I don't have the knowledge to translate it, but I know some one that has. And they're completely trustworthy too. Wouldn't tell a soul." 

There was a pause. "Do it. We need that plate translated. It has to contain their weakness, they wouldn't protect it if it didn't." 

Daniel hung up and started pawing through his phone book, finding the one he wanted he picked up the phone and dialed. Minutes later he left his office, going to find the others. They were taking a trip to Sunnydale.

******************************************************

BACK IN SUNNYDALE 

Xander wondered what his Wills was doing. His thoughts had taken an interesting turn when a loud scream ripped through the air. His heart leapt into his throat. That was Willow. He ran, legs pounding and heart screaming at him to go faster. He surveyed the situation. Five vamps had them surrounded, and one of them was trying to bite HIS Willow. He ran into the fight, staking one and pushing others out of the way. Just the vamp was about to puncture her neck Xander tapped him on the shoulder. The vamp pulled back in surprise and was greeted with a fist to the face. 

Xander loomed over him. "That's my girlfriend you're trying to bite. I'd try running, now." 

 The vamp scrambled to his feet and ran off. A dust covered Buffy came over to them. Willow stared at him. Xander looked at the both of them, his shoulders dropped and he started to walk off.

Buffy and Willow raced over and hugged him. "Whoah Girls watch out you nearly cracked my ribs".

 Buffy shrugged sheepishly, "Sorry, just missed you that's all." 

Xander laughed, "Don't worry Buff, it wasn't you." 

Willow blushed, "Well I missed you too you know."

 Xander looked down at his feet. "I thought that you were mad at me or something." 

Willow stared at him. "No I was surprised. I didn't think you'd be here until tomorrow.

Xander grinned and pulled Willow into a passionate embrace. They pulled away to the sound of Buffy trying to stifle her laughter.

 Xander looked over at her. "What?" 

She grinned up at him. "Just trying to figure out why Will reacted so fast when she thought that you were walking around here with just a pair of leather pants on." 

Xander looked offended. "I'll have you know that I have a great ass." 

Willow squeezed his hand and he looked over at her inquiringly. She leant up and began to whisper in his ear. Xander's eye's widened; he reached down and swung Willow over his shoulder fireman style. "See ya tomorrow Buffy."

 Buffy laughed as Xander raced through the cemetery, stumbling slightly as Willow continued to talk into his ear.

*********************************************************

_THE NEXT NIGHT_

There was an eerie silence in the cemetery as Xander patrolled. Tonight he had a mission and he wasn't going to fail, he never failed his assignments (those that weren't of the school variety any way). He was going to find that vamp that tried to bite his Will and he was going to sent him to meet his maker, his original maker, not the vamp that sired him. Xander roamed around that town in his commando stealth gear, well he would have if Willow hadn't ripped them the night before, so he was stuck with the second best thing: black leather. It would also help if he had to go to Willy's, the guy's there were always afraid of leather. 

A twig cracked behind him and Xander stopped. "Come out, come out where ever you are." 

Xander turned in time to stop the first fist that was swung towards him. Three vamps stood before him, smiling. A feral grin worked its way across Xander's face and he began to fight. He fought as he had never fought before, it was a bloodbath, vamps were falling then coming back for more. Finally once he was done playing with them he staked them quickly, all except the one that he faced the other night. That one was tied up to kiss the sunrise.

Suddenly Xander stumbled back, it was like a mist was invading his mind. He was rocked with visions of blood and gore. Finally the visions stopped. 

He lifted his head. "Gotta get to Giles." He stood slowly and made his way over to the vamp. "Never say I'm cruel." He staked the vampire and then stiffened.

 It was like some one was watching him. Straining his eyes he peered into the darkness, seeing nothing he shrugged and turned away, heading towards the comfort of Giles's knowledge.

                        ***********************************************


	3. Chapter 3 The Meeting Of Two Lives

                                      OF THEIR PAST 

                   CHAPTER THREE

Disclaimer- Think about it, if I owned Buffy, Angel and Stargate do you think I would be spending all my time writing these stories? Of course not, so obviously they're not mine.

**

_AT THE SAME TIME_

Sam, Teal'c and Jack went wandering through Sunnydale. Daniel had gone to his friend's house, wanting to explain the situation before bombarding him with other people. To them it seemed as if Sunnydale was too quiet, it was certainly strange here. No one even walked by themselves; they were always in groups of two's or three's. A flash of activity out of the corner of Sam's eye caught her attention.

 She tugged on Jack's arm. "Sir, there's someone being attacked in the cemetery." 

Jack grumbled. "Which one? They have thirteen here, what do they need so many for anyway?"

 The trio crept forward, trying to survey the situation. They were shocked to see a tall man in black leather fighting off three men by himself, and he was winning. Sam let out a gasp as two of the men just seemed to disintegrate. The man then started to tie the remaining one up, however once he had finished he clasped his head as if in pain. 

Sam went to step forward when Jack held her back. "No Carter you don't know what's wrong with that guy."

 The man shook it off and got to his feet. Walking over to the man who was tied up he pulled out a wooden stake and shoved it directly into his heart. The leather man stiffened and started to look around. The trio ducked, praying he hadn't seen them. He then shrugged and walked away. They stood and looked at each other. Jack exhaled. "That was weird." 

Sam's phone rang; it was Daniel asking them to meet him at his friend's house. Getting the directions they slowly made their way, still thinking about the odd occurrence they had just witnessed.

********************************************

Xander burst into Giles's apartment. "Giles we have a problem, I've called Willow and Buffy and their coming over for research." 

Xander fell speechless as he saw whom Giles was with. "Daniel?" 

Daniel stood shocked to see Xander. "Al what are you doing here?" 

Giles looked between the two men. His eyebrow quirked. "Al?" He asked, smirking at Xander.

 Xander stared at him and shrugged. "What when I started I was undercover. Didn't want to use Xander in case Riley had used it in his reports." 

Giles nodded. "That's a good idea."

 Daniel cleared his throat. Xander and Giles turned to face him. Daniel swallowed. "Undercover?"

A couple of loud voices faltered all conversation. Willow ran into a shocked Buffy. Peering around the immobile slayer she let out a wolf whistle and giggled. She slipped around Buffy and wrapped her arms around Xander's middle. Peering up at him from underneath her lashes she let out another giggle and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. 

Buffy exhaled. "No wonder Will was smiling at the thought of you in leather pants.  You were right, by the way. You do have a great ass." 

Xander burst out laughing as Willow growled at the slayer.

**********************************************************

"- You do have a great ass." 

Sam, Jack and Teal'c came to a stop outside. They shook their heads, whatever it was they didn't want to know. The trio came to a halt in the doorway. Daniel was in the middle of the room, surrounded by a middle age man, a blonde girl and a couple that were convulsing in laughter. Sam gasped; the man of the couple was the guy they saw in the cemetery. Teal'c jumped forward to grab him from behind; at the same time Jack launched himself at the middle-aged man standing by Daniel. The small blonde jumped forward to stop Jack's attack, then bounced over to Teal'c. But the leather man had anticipated the ambush and flipped him onto the floor.  Sensing another presence he turned towards the door and stopped suddenly. 

His face went white with shock. "Major Carter!" He managed to choke out. All the eyes in the room where on him. 

Jack got up and stood beside Sam, glaring at Giles.  Sam's eyes widened. "Al, what are you doing here?" 

Buffy's eyes narrowed. Xander seemed to know these people, but they had people attack them that they had known before. All eyes focused on Xander. 

His eyes went hard. "I'm on leave. I think the question is what are you here?" He turned to Jack. "And what problem you have with Giles?" 

The SG team were shocked they had never known Al to be so in control, or talk so much. He was usually so silent, speaking only when he deemed necessary.  

Daniel stepped forward. "I was doing the translation on that plate that we found. The language, well I've never seen it before. I remembered that my friend from the British Museum had an amazing memory for languages so I contacted Rupert and here we are." 

Buffy turned to Jack. "So what's your problem, you and Giles have been glaring daggers at each other." Jack's anger boiled to the surface. Buffy placed a restraining hand against his chest. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Jack and I knew each other when I was at Oxford. He was stationed over there, only a private then. He and his friends used to come to the bar were my band played, I was going out with a girl, Beth. Beth broke it off in favour for him. The one night after the gig ended I found her in the alley with her throat torn out. Jack found me standing over her body. He's blamed me for her death ever since."

 Jack growled and tried to lunge at Giles, only to be stopped by Buffy. "She wouldn't have died if you hadn't lured her there. Like it or not Ripper it is your fault." 

Teal'c looked at Buffy. "How is it that a girl of your size can restrain Col. O'Neal?"

 Buffy shrugged and looked at her friends uncomfortably then stared at him. "Adrenaline, I guess." 

Teal'c cocked his head. It was clear that they didn't believe her but they weren't going to ask any more questions.

The door to Giles's apartment crashed open and an irate brown haired male stood in the doorway. A dark haired girl was slumped weakly against him. Gently he helped her to the sofa and set her down. 

He turned and faced Giles. "We need your help." 


	4. Chapter 4 The Hellmouth A Cliff Notes Ve...

                      OF THEIR PAST

CHAPTER 4

Disclaimer- Once again I don't own them I'm just playing with them without their owner's permission. A lot of Giles' speech is copied directly from different episodes, so even the speeches don't belong to me.

**

Xander smirked. "You should really feel loved Giles." He turned to the male. "Get in line Dead boy, you're not the only one with problems. We got here first." 

Angel's golden-eyed glaze fell on Xander. "You." He hissed. 

 Growling loudly he lunged towards Xander knocking Willow over in the process. The pair tumbled to the floor, but Angel was weakened, Xander was able to overpower him, pinning him to the ground.

 "Huh, poor puppy's gonna have to do better if he wants to beat me." Xander smirked which just acted to further enrage Angel.

 A murmur from Willow drew Xander's attention; he quickly let go of Angel and raced to her side. "What is it Baby, what's wrong?" He ran his hands through her hair. Willow grabbed his face and pulled him into a punishing kiss.

Pushing Xander away Willow stood up quickly. 

Grinning at Xander she turned to Angel. "Puppy wanna play? Puppy doesn't like Willow's games."

 She strode over to a prone Angel and kicked him in the ribs. He rolled onto his back. Willow ripped open his shirt and began to reopen old, half-healed wounds. Angel bellowed in pain as he convulsed unable to stop her. All of a sudden Willow's face fell and she dropped back. 

She turned to Xander crying, "Oh God Xander what have we done? What have we done?" 

Xander pulled her into his arms and began to rock her. "It wasn't us Wills, it wasn't us. We couldn't do that, you know we couldn't." 

The SG1 team stood at the sidelines staring at the others. This was just too weird.

 Jack stepped forward. "What the hell is going on here?"

Buffy snorted. "How much time do you have?"

Jack looked at her strangely. Buffy ignored him instead she moved towards the couple collapsed on the floor.

Willow growled, inching back. Xander joined her trying to keep their distance from the slayer.

Angel groaned and rolled onto his side. "Buffy don't, they're trying to control the demon. It goes crazy when a slayer is around. You trying to get close to them doesn't help.

The SG1 team looked confused. "Demon?"

Xander looked up, a pain-filled smile on his face. "Cat's outta the bag Buff. You and G-man better tell them."

Giles grimanced at the use of nickname. "I do wish you wouldn't call me that Xander."

Giles held out a hand to Angel. Disbelief Disbelief clouded Angel's face. He slowly lifted his hand and Giles grasped it, hauling him to his feet.

Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them as he paced. "This world is older than any of you know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the earth, made it their home, their hell. In time, they lost their purchase on this reality, and the way was made for mortal animals. For man. What remains of the old ones are vestiges: certain magicks, certain creatures."

Xander propped himself up behind Giles and began to mime the speech, much to Willow's amusement.

"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed- infected- by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another… and so they walked the earth, feeding. Killing some and mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the old ones to return."

Teal'c quirked his head to the side. "What of her?" He asked, pointing at Buffy. "She is not human."

Not even turning his head to glare at Xander Giles continued. "As long as there have been vampires and demons, there has been the slayer. One girl, in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to find them where they gather and stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers."

Buffy rolled her eyes at Giles. "So basically vampires and demons are real and I fight them." She turned to Teal'c. "And I so am human, I just have a few extras that's all."

Jack looked skeptical. "And you just expect us to believe you do you? This is crazy, your nuts."

Angel growled. "You want proof, then see this." Angel vamped.

SG1 gasped. Sam stepped forward to examine him, shaking off Jacks hand. Drawing back slightly she asked, "Do you mind?"

Angel leaned against the couch where he placed Cordy and shook his head. 

Sam approached him cautiously. Running her fingers over his ridges she moved his chin examining his vamp face. She frowned seeing his injuries. Pulling his shirt aside she gasped again. "Oh my god! Who did this to you?"

Angel's eyes flickered. Xander paled and Willow let out a strangled sob. "We did."

All eyes turned to the couple that was still sitting on the floor. Xander wrapped his arms around Willow and stroked her hair. "Wasn't us, wasn't you. It was a alternate reality vampire version of us."

Willow's eyes were haunted. "Doesn't matter, it was still us."

Buffy and Giles frowned. Angel narrowed his eyes. "Willow they are not you. You are not responsible for the damage they caused."

Willow shook her head as tears fell down her face. "Your wrong, we are."

A smile grin crossed Angel's face he quickly squashed it. "Willow, I'm sorry I killed your fish."

Willow whirled around to face him. "Don't you dare try to apologise for that, it wasn't you it was Angelus. It was the demon; the soul had no control over the demon then."

Angel smirked as the realisation crossed her face. She slapped him lightly on the arm. "That was mean, using my own logic against me."

Daniel shook his head. "I'm sorry but I don't understand any of this, I mean I understood the vampires and demons. But the vampire versions of Al and Willow?"

Xander answered him. "Senior year of high school Wills and I had illicit smoochies, our partners found us and my old girlfriend accidentally summoned a vengeance demon who made a world where we were vampires. She lost her powers, tried to get them back but brought vamp Will here instead. We sent her back though."

Buffy frowned her think face in place. "What ever happened to Anya anyhow?"

Xander grinned. "I got a letter from her a while back, she's in Florida with some of her powers back. Basically she's walking around flaying cheating men and making them eat their own organs and such. She's having a blast."

Jack made a face. "Ouch."

At that Cordy began to stir. "Angel?"

Angel moved so quickly he was a blur. He leaned over her. "What is it Cordy?"

Cordy stared up at him her chocolate brown eyes swimming with pain. "Where's Conner?" She started to panic. "Oh God, Angel where's Conner?"

            Angel smoothed down her hair. "Shhh, it's fine. Conner's in the car with Wesley. I'll go get them."

            Cordelia nodded and closed her eyes. Angel moved towards the door and before anyone could stop him he darted out. A couple of minutes later he returned with a toddler who was rubbing his eyes and a tall, dark man who looked slightly scruffy and dangerous.

            Buffy gasped. 'When did Wesley become such a hottie?'


	5. Chapter 5 Just Like Old Times

                                    OF THEIR PAST

Disclaimer- The characters that you recognise obviously don't belong to me, they belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy and all those hot shot people; not me.  

Note- Okay so this is the plan, I have 2 on going fics (this one and another called Daughter of Mine) not to mention the random one chapters that occur to me and the follow up to Dealing and Moving On. So what I'm going to try to do is update once a week until I have to return to the dreaded institution that they call tertiary education, this update will include one chapter for this story and one for Daughter of Mine as well as any randomness that occurs. 

Note 2- This chapter is dedicated to Catlimere who was almost on the right track, just needed to think a little more out of the box. Thanks to everyone that reviewed.

**

PART 5 

            Buffy blushed. She couldn't believe the way her mind worked sometimes. She had strange new people being introduced to the demon world, there was something uber wrong with Willow and Xander not to mention Angel and Cordy, and here she was mentally undressing _Wesley_ of all people and drooling all over Giles's newly cleaned carpet.

            Wesley looked around and nodded to those he knew, looking curiously at those he didn't. He placed Conner's diaper bag and another heavy looking sports bag behind the couch and squatted in front of Cordelia. He ran a hand over her brow and smiled slightly as he watched Conner snuggle close to her. "You feeling any better?"

            Cordy shifted her head, her voice hoarse. "A little, but that could be just because we stopped moving."

            Giles cleared his throat and frowned. "What happened to you? What caused this?"

            Wesley paused slightly before continuing. "We have a theory but I want to see what you make of it first. Look at these." He titled Cordy's neck gently to the side, revealing a set of teeth marks the area surrounding them already bruised. He then turned her head to the other side and pulled down her shirt slightly revealing yet another set of fang marks and bruising.

            Sam inhaled sharply. "What could have caused that?"

            Giles spoke, his face grim. "Vampires."

            "That's not all." Wesley turned to Angel and gently helped him take off his shirt. Angel spun slowly to showcase his torso, a patchwork of wounds and healing scars.

            Sam was horrified. "What happened to them?"

            Wesley sighed. "Not completely sure actually. It just seemed to have happened instantly. There was no physical cause for these wounds, I was watching Cordy when they appeared."

            Giles looked from Cordy and Angel to Xander and Willow. He started to pace, his mind working so fast if it was a machine there would have been smoke billowing out of his ears. Suddenly he stopped, his finger on his lips. "It's interesting that Anya was mentioned earlier."

            Willow's eyes grew wide, coming to the same realization Giles had. She moaned. "No, I can't do this, can't handle this."

            Xander looked down at her confused. "What, what is it?"

            Giles slipped into lecture mode. "We all know there are parallel dimensions, some worlds are similar to our own, though there are many that are distinctly different. When Anya granted Cordelia's wish that Buffy had never came to Sunnydale she created that dimension and all the horrors that it contained. That of course included the people, in order to create a realistic replica she had to borrow some of their essence, their spirit."

            Buffy frowned. "Okay, but what does that have to do with this?"

            Wesley took over. "I believe that that dimension became unstable after Anyanka's power source was smashed and… And that the dimension is slowly breaking down, this would cause the borrowed essence to return to the original source."

"Meaning us?" Buffy questioned.

            Wesley nodded. "Yes, however, I'm afraid something's happened. The essence should just be returned, causing no ill effects but it seems in the cases of Angel and Cordy that the returned essence is dominating the body."

             "So that's what caused the injuries, the borrowed essence returning."

            Willow looked up, her eyes wild. "Dominating; no, no not good."  She pulled herself out of Xander's arms and started to pace. Xander placed himself in her path. "What's wrong baby?"

            Willow laughed bitterly. "Did you ever wonder why you wore leather tonight? Why you went hunting? Why you bit me this morning? Why we can't stand to be close to Buffy right now?" She moved around him and continued to pace. "We were vampires in that world Xander and I don't think these essences want to let go of that."

            Xander stood frozen and then shrugged. "Well that does explain the memories. And the whole vicious thing, thought I was being bit more of a bad ass then usual."

            Giles blanched. "You have their memories?"

            Xander and Willow nodded. Xander tried to grin. "Just like a great big blood and gore movie."

            Jack cleared his throat startling the Sunnydale crew and the L. A team. "Okay so what's going on? In English if you don't mind."

            Sam quickly explained. "The bits of their souls that were used to make the other versions of them are returning to them, but something's gone wrong and their causing Willow and Al to act like their other versions and their hurting Angel and Cordelia."

            "Oh okay, so how do we help? What?" Jack questioned as they stared at him. "Al's member of our team, damn fine one and we are not going to lose him."

            Buffy's eyes narrowed. "And what team is that again?"

            Jack straightened, unconsciously trying to intimidate her. "I'm afraid that's classified."

            Buffy started to argue. Xander broke in. "Buff just leave it please. I promise I'll explain everything once we get this fixed."

            Buffy sighed and grumbled. "No fair using the puppy dog eyes against me. Fine, okay but you better explain everything mister."

            Xander flashed his crooked grin. "Of course." He rubbed his hands together suddenly business like. "So what do we do now?"

            Wesley grabbed the bag he had earlier deposited behind the couch. "Now we research. Try and find a way to negate to effects before they start occurring to the rest of us."

                        ***************************

            Xander yawned and stretched, his joints cracking. He looked over at Angel who was sitting across from him. "So…" Xander started awkwardly. "Listen about that whole attacking you thing.." 

            Angel shook his head smiling ruefully. "Don't worry about it. Happens all the time."

 Xander looked back down at his book and groaned. He threw it on the coffee table. "Man I am so sick of researching."

Angel flicked through the pages of his book. "Don't worry Wes'll have that Eureka moment any time soon."

Xander rubbed a hand over his face. "Can't be soon enough."

Angel chuckled. Xander jumped, he had never heard Angel laugh. Cordy had to have been a great influence on him. He looked over at Cordelia and sighed. It was quite a sight, she was hurt pretty bad and yet she still held Conner tightly in her sleep afraid to let him go. Then there was Buffy, she had crashed a couple of hours ago on the floor next to Cordy. Her mouth was slightly ajar and her limbs would sometimes twitch as she dreamed. Not far from her Jack had fallen asleep against one of the walls, he was not going to be a happy camper when he woke up.

Xander craned his head to glance at the table. Giles had piled his books up on the table and was slowly searching through each one. Wesley had pretty much done the same thing; it looked like it was a watcher thing. Sam had thrown herself head first into the research, her eyes were bright with excitement as they moved down the page. Teal'c had taken a spot near her; his interest arrested by the new topic of demons and hell dimensions. Willow was sitting in front of her laptop as she quickly switched from site to site.

Xander sunk back into the couch and pulled a box out of his jacket pocket. He opened it and stared at the ring inside. At this rate he was never going to get the perfect opportunity to propose. Xander sighed. Well, that's life on the hellmouth for you.

"Eureka!!" Xander jumped, accidentally closing the box on his finger. He quickly shoved the box back into his jacket pocket. He looked over at Angel. "He actually says it?" Angel just rolled his eyes and moved closer to the table. Xander rose and stationed himself behind Willow, absently working the tension out of her shoulders.

Wesley held up a book and began to recite half the page, it explained collapsing dimensions and all the things that Xander couldn't understand at this time of the night. Wesley concluded his speech coming to the point. "There's a spell, it will sort of heal the borrowed essence, return it to the state in which it was originally taken. That should completely reverse the effects."

Xander perked up, now completely awake. "So what are we waiting, wave some burning plants, light some candles, chant the chant and hey presto Rory's your uncle and we're all fixed."

Wesley shook his head his face grim. "It's not that easy. The details of the spell itself have been hidden from human eyes for centuries. They are guarded by a sect of demon followers who wait for one to come who will release them of their burden. Their location is top secret though there is some speculation they are situated near the hellmouth."

"Well, we're just going to have to go to our source." Xander stood straighter. "You guys rest, or whatever you have to do." He moved towards the door.

"Hold it Harris." Jack stood from his place on the floor. "You're not going alone." Teal'c nodded in agreement. "We shall accompany you, Captain Harris." Angel spoke up. "Me too." Xander shook his head. "Uh uh Deadboy, you're not going anywhere. It's dangerous and you couldn't hold up your end in a fight."

"So that settles it, Teal'c and I will go with you." Jack made to leave the apartment. Xander stopped him. "Not like that your not, you go in unarmed and you'll be dead in five minutes, less if you speak to them." Jack rolled his eyes and pushed his flannel shirt out of the way revealing his gun. Xander clicked his tongue. "No that's not gonna do it. Come on lets get you properly armed."

*************************

            The beads adorning the entrance to the bar jangled quietly as they were pushed aside by the new customers. Willy stood behind the bar, cleaning a glass with that dirty rag. He looked up. "Hey, what do'ya know **Xander Harris** what are you doing here? Not on an errand for the **slayer **are you?"

            Willy's voice carried to the back of the bar, where subtle movement could be seen, well it would have been subtle had it not been for the fact that the three men had been fighting for the majority of their lives. Xander grinned and casually sat on one of the bar stools. Jack and Teal'c flanked him, protecting his back. Xander leaned forwards, his grin feral. "Hey Willy, we need some information. Think you can do that for me?"

            Willy swallowed audibly. "Sure kid. What do ya want to know?" Xander leaned back, looking to all as if he didn't have a care in the world. "There's this big secret demon sect around here somewhere. They have something we need. We could really use their location. They're not exactly the blend in type of demon; they look like big green smurfs."

            Willy looked around and leaned in. "Look, Harris I really like you. You should stay away from them, they're bad news." Xander's face hardened and Willy took a step back. "This isn't negotiable, you tell me where they are or I'll rip out your intestines and paint the walls with your blood."

            Jack had shifted slightly to try and stare at one of the canine-like demons when a roar made them aware of an incoming aggressor. In a smooth move Xander rose, twisted around and had un-holstered his weapons; his gun and short sword moving quickly through the air, covering all points of attack. Jack and Teal'c quickly pulled out the weapons Xander had armed them with earlier. Jack aimed his crossbow at the other patrons, unaware of here the next attack could originate from and Teal'c wielded a glaive with trained hands.

            The demon continued to bear down on Xander, when suddenly a booted foot met the demons face, very hard. Attacking only with his feet Xander forced the much larger demon up against the bar, he removed his foot from the demons throat only to replace it with the gun to its head. Trusting Teal'c and Jack to protect his back he kept the short sword trained on the other demons.

            Xander glared. "I don't like being attacked by demons, it tends to make me cranky and you won't like me when I'm cranky." The demon's mouth moved into something that resembled a smirk. "Your weapon cannot kill me." 

            Xander pressed the gun into his head. "No, but I'm betting it'll hurt like hell and take years to heal." The demon scowled and under his breath started complaining about demon hunters, slayers and their lap dogs.

            Willy, ever the peacemaker, grabbed a scrap of paper and started to scribble on it. "Here take it, just leave my paying customers alone." Willy folded the paper and handed it to Jack. "There you have what you want, now go."

            Xander sheathed his weapons and backed his way out of the bar, grabbing the paper of Jack. Once outside he opened it. 'Hey kid your technique has improved, very intimidating. The demons you're looking for have taken up residence in the sewers near Angel's old place. Good Luck. Give my best to your witch and the slayer.'

Xander turned his head, looking at Jack and Teal'c. He clapped his hands together. "Right, we've got a demon to see about a prophecy."


	6. Chapter 6 Prophecy's are tricky things

                                    OF THEIR PAST

Disclaimer- None of these characters, yada yada, belong to me. They belong to Joss and co. I just like to bend them to my twist whims.

Note: Quick update during my mid-semester break, only a week but it's better than nothing. Thank you to my reviewers, I love you all and I hope you enjoy it.

 Without further delay…

***

CHAPTER 6

            The door to Giles's apartment opened with a crash, everyone tensed then let out a sigh of relief when Xander, Jack and Teal'c entered. Their clothes were torn and they looked as if they had been rolling in mud. Jack looked as if he was in shock, while Xander looked victorious and Teal'c was as calm as he always was.

            "Good lord!" Daniel exclaimed. "What happened to you three?"

            Xander grinned his wackiest Xander grin. "We fulfilled a prophecy."

            Buffy frowned. "Huh?"

            Xander just pulled out a scroll from the inside of his jacket. Seeing it Wesley started to laugh. "So you relieved them of their burden?"

            Xander grinned wickedly. "Their burden, their lives, we relieved them of a lot of things."

            Giles tried to suppress a Ripper-ish grin, but failed miserably when he saw Buffy pouting. "Very good Xander, now we just have to translate it."

            Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "You could have woken me, you should have woken me."

            He just grinned at her. "Don't worry, I'll wake you for the violence next time."

            Buffy sighed. "Xander you could have gotten hurt, the last time you went to Willy's you were almost killed and walking into a demon sect's lair, not the smartest thing in the world."

            Xander's grin faded. He threw an arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to worry about me any more Buff. I'm G.I. Xander now remember? The military gave me all that handy training, and if you recall I was given the slayer seal of approval back in High School. 'Sides I'm such a bad ass right now, I wanted to take advantage of that."

            Buffy rested her head on his shoulder before pushing herself away. "Okay, but be more careful next time. We want our Xander shaped friend around for a long time."

            Xander chuckled at her, recalling the first time she had called him her Xander shaped friend. He looked around. "Where's Willow?"

            Giles dragged his eyes off the scroll Xander was casually tossing from one hand to another. "Pardon? Oh, she's in the bathroom." Again Giles's eyes returned to the scroll. Giles winced every time the scroll left Xander's hand. Xander looked over at the couch, where Angel had joined Cordy and Conner in slumber. This was what he wanted, he wanted a family with Willow.

            A scuffling sound drew his attention to the kitchen entrance. Willow was slumped against the wall, her hair covering her face.

            "Willow!" Xander threw the scroll at Giles and raced to Willow's side. He was beaten by Daniel and Buffy. 

Buffy placed her hand on Willow's arm. "Wills, are you alright?"

Willow peered through her hair and grinned wickedly. Moving faster than humanly possible she backhanded Buffy, causing her to fly across the room and into the wall before she fell, slumped, on the floor. Daniel remained still; he was in shock over her sudden change in demeanor. Willow smiled seductively at him, her hips swaying in her tight jeans as she stepped forward. Before he could move Willow had him pressed against the wall, her hand covering his throat.

Willow licked her lips. "Oh he's cute." She kissed him hard on the lips, making sure to grip him hard enough to cut off his air supply. He started in gasp as she dropped him on the ground. Willow leapt, landing next to Wesley, he jumped back slightly but not enough to escape her. Willow tripped him, and then trapped his arms by straddling his chest. She ran her hands up and down his chest, grinning at Buffy, who was watching while she tried to rise.

            Willow leaned close to Wesley's face. "I think the Slayer's jealous. I think she rather be the one on top." Willow looked over at Buffy as she ran a tongue down Wesley's neck. "He tastes good Slayer, you should try."

            Willow lashed out with a punch as Jack tried to tackle her off Wesley. "Wait your turn Grandpa." She snarled.

            Giles stepped lightly behind her and placed a hand on her back. She turned ready to hit him when her face fell. "G-Giles?" Her eyes filled with tears and she stumbled back. "Oh god." She looked over at Daniel. "I'm sorry, oh god, I'm so sorry."

            She collapsed on the floor, bent over and sobbing her heart out. Xander knelt down and wrapped his arms around her, whispering soothing thoughts into her hair. She buried her face into his chest and mumbled.

            Xander stiffened. "Tell me you didn't just ask me to kill you."

            Willow looked up at him, her eyes red. "I can't live like this Xander, it's driving me crazy. And you promised, we both did when Jesse died. You promised to stake me if I was turned."

            Xander left go of her and started to pace. He ran a hand through his hair. "I know I did. But this isn't the same, we can fix this."

            "How do you know that? What we end up like this for the rest of our lives? I can't be like that Xander, I just can't. I refuse to end up like Jesse." Willow cried. 

            "You can't make me stake you Willow. You don't know, what's like to have to stake someone that's been your best friend for years, some one that you know better than you know yourself. It almost killed me with Jesse, staking you would be a hundred times worse. Especially when I know we can fix it. Give it a chance."

            Willow looked down at her hands. "Alright, but if it doesn't work…"

            Xander nodded, knowing in his heart there was no way he could harm Willow intentionally. "If it doesn't work."

                                    **************************

            Amazingly Angel, Cordy and Conner had slept through the earlier incident. Buffy sat in an armchair, watching the trio. Her gaze moved to Giles's bedroom where Willow had been put after her crying jag. Poor Willow, Buffy sighed, she was still carrying all the emotion she had when Jesse was turned. She supposed they all were; it was made worse by the fact that they had no place to mourn him. Jesse's parents were in denial, they still believed that their son had run away and would return to them some day. Buffy sighed again, training her eyes on Wesley, mentally urging him to finish the translation and make things right again.

            Wesley, Daniel and Giles crowded around the scroll. Luckily the scroll was written in Latin, a language that all three knew well. They had almost finished translating and where currently listing all the ingredients needed for the ritual. Wesley frowned at one of the items. "Thestral blood? Do you have any on hand, it is notoriously hard to find."

            "Huhh?" Giles looked up. "Oh yes, I have some of the Magic Box's latest shipments here. I believe I ordered Thestral blood."

            Daniel straightened. "Well that's it than, we're ready to organise the ritual."

            "Great." Buffy's voice was shaky. "Because I think its getting worse."


	7. Chapter 7 An Interesting Development

OF THEIR PAST

Disclaimer- Begins to sing and dance. "Not mine, never were, never will be. They belong to Joss and co., Joss and co., Joss and co.; though I wish they were mine." Get the picture?

Note- Just a quick update. If there is anything you need explained, please just ask I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Note2- For those of you who wanted more evil Xander here it is, Enjoy.

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Chapter 7

The three men stared at her. The blonde slayer was running a finger over her lips; lips that just half an hour were un-blemished. Now, however, a large scar across her trembling mouth. Giles stared at the scar in horror. "Oh dear lord."

Wesley rushed to her side, kneeling in front of her. Buffy lowered her head. Using his hand he gently made her look at him. With his index finger he traced the scar; Buffy trembled. "Does it hurt?" He asked. Buffy shook her head. She gripped his arms, her eyes wide. "But she's angry, oh god Wesley, she's so angry."

Wesley stood, his eyes steely with determination. "Set up the ritual." He ordered. "But-" Daniel was interrupted. "We do the ritual as soon as Willow and Xander return." Wesley strode over to the table and started gathering the supplies.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Willow and Xander held hands as they walked through the cemetery. They pushed their way through bushes until they came to the spot they were looking for. It was a small wooden cross with a plaque nailed on it. It read:

Jesse Williams

1980-1997

He will forever be remembered as our friend, the

musketeers won't be the same without him.

Willow kneeled in front of the sign and ran her fingers over it. "Hi Jesse. Long time no see."

Xander crouched down next to her. "You've missed a lot man."

Willow nodded in agreement. "So much, gonna have to catch you up soon. But not today."

Xander shook his head. "No not now, not enough time; to much to tell."

They sat there for a while, not noticing the movement of time. Sighing Willow looked at her watch. "We better go, they're probably waiting on us to do the spell."

Xander held out his hand, helping Willow to her feet. With one last goodbye they walked out into the main part of the cemetery. They were walking amongst the headstones when Xander stiffened. He turned to Willow. "You hear that?"

Willow frowned. "Yeah." Xander raised his nose into the air, taking in deep breaths. His eyes glowed and he grinned manically. He pointed off to the side of the cemetery. "It's over there."

Together they blended into the shadows, silently stalking their prey.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A young blonde woman quickly walked through the cemetery, looking around her and jumping at the slightest noise. Her stupid car had to pick now to break down on her; so she was left no choice but to walk through the cemetery to get home. A loud crack, like someone stepping on a branch echoed through the night. She spun around. "Who- who's there?"

She studied the darkness, trying to make out the shapes that filled the dark. She exhaled, there was nothing there, it was just her overactive imagination. She laughed at herself and turned, shrieking as she saw a woman in her path. The redheaded woman smiled at her. "Are you lost?"

The blonde shook her head. "No my car broke down, where did you come from?"

The redhead laughed and took a few steps forward. "Oh you know, here and there."

A shiver ran down the blonde's spine. The redhead stopped in front of her and ran a hand down her face and onto her neck. "Pretty." She murmured before smiling brightly. "Do you want to be my Kitty?"

The blonde took a step back, running into a solid chest. She looked up and screamed. Strong hands gripped her shoulder's as a cold nose ran up her neck. "I like her Wills."

Willow skipped forward. "I know, isn't she pretty? I bet she tastes good too." She giggled and gnashed her teeth at them.

"I'm sure she does Will. Why don't we find out?" The blonde screamed as two sets of teeth pierced her neck, allowing her blood to flow freely.


	8. Chapter 8 The Darkness Within

OF THEIR PAST

Disclaimer- _rolls eyes_ We have to go through this again? Come on say it with me now, Not mine, they belong to Joss Whedon and all those other fat cats. Stargate belongs to the star-gatey people.

Note1- Thank you to :

Lost-little-one: here's the update, and faster then the last one as well.

Catlimere: You know it's spooky how right you are. You always seem to question and comment on the right things. Here's a little Buffy-Wesley scene for you and if you like my Wesley you should check out my profile for 'The Getting of Vengeance' it's a little Lilah-Wes story I wrote.

Note2- Okay here's the thing this puppy has become longer then I thought it would. I thought that chapter 8 would have revealed the big surprise and yet we have at least three more chapters before it's revealed so I hope you'll stick with me till the big finale. Also I'm on holiday's in 2 weeks so regular updates will be appearing soon.

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Chapter 8

Buffy paced around Giles' living room, her movements agitated and jerky. She played with her necklace as she paced, head down to hide the battle being conducted in her soul. The anger was winning; it was slowly consuming her. Buffy bit back a sob; she had been fighting the 'forces of darkness' for years, she had come up against the ugliest and evilest creatures the Hellmouth could throw at her, she used to dealing with darkness. So why couldn't she over come the darkness that was invading her now, twisting her thoughts, tainting her emotions.

Buffy gasped as a hand came to rest on her shoulder; the darkness retreated, it was still there but it was no longer crawling forth to consume her very being. She looked up at Wesley and smiled gratefully at him. He squeezed her shoulder and let go, turning to assist Giles and Xander's friends with setting up the ritual. As soon as Wesley lifted his hand the anger leapt forward, trying to establish dominance in the Slayer. Buffy darted forward and grabbed Wesley's hand and exhaled with relief as she felt her balance return.

Wesley looked down at her, questions reflected clearly in his eyes. Buffy blushed lightly and lowered her head. "Please don't let go. I don't know how long I can keep it back, keep it from consuming me." Buffy looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "Please."

Without saying a word Wesley nodded and led her to an oversized armchair. He sat first, scrunching over to give Buffy room. Gratefully Buffy snuggled into his side, laying her head on his chest and closing her eyes with a sigh of relief. Wesley rested his cheek on her the top of her head; ignoring the curious looks Giles was giving them. He looked over at the couch, where Cordy and Angel were resting. Angel looked back at him through pain-hazed eyes; he nodded approvingly and turned back to watching Cordy as she twitched in pain and tried to hide it from Conner.

Conner, who had awoken from his nap, was playing with some of his toys under Cordy's fiercely maternal gaze. He held up a stuffed bear that had been a birthday present from Gunn and said, "Lookit Mama. Lookit, bear."

Cordy smiled down at him. She reached down to smooth a curl off his face. "I see it Baby boy, I see it."

Conner beamed up at her and, with the attention span that only a toddler can have, dropped the bear in favour of a toy truck. He pushed it along the floor, making the appropriate noises as he drove it around Giles's rug.

Buffy watched the scene with lidded eyes, as Wesley absently rubbed her back. There was something comforting about this, watching Angel's family with Wesley beside her. It felt right.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It was a strange sight that greeted those who entered the cemetery that night. A brunette and a redhead sandwiched a blonde between them. They had bitten down hard on the delicate skin of her neck, exposing that precious liquid that flowed through her body. They lapped at it like kittens given a bowl of milk.

The blood hit the back of Xander's throat and he pulled away, sickened by it. He stumbled over to a tree and emptied his stomach, spitting several times to try and remove the metallic tang from his mouth. Unsteadily he rose to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He turned and watched as Willow pulled away with a cry, only to repeat the same process that Xander had just finished.

The blonde stared at them, her hands clasped to the two bleeding wounds on her neck. Her mouth hung open and her eyes bulged; she pulled a hand away from her neck and screamed upon seeing the blood that coated it. Moving quickly Xander covered her mouth with his hand. Terrified, the woman struggled kicking out at him.

Xander hissed in annoyance, he leaned into her ear and whispered. "Are you stupid? Are trying to get yourself killed? We're not going to hurt you, but there are others out there that won't stop."

Xander released her and stepped back. With one last wide-eyed look the woman fled, not looking back. Xander sighed as he watched her clear the cemetery. He walked over to where Willow had collapsed after throwing up. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with weariness. "I'm so tired of this Xander."

He attempted his quirky grin, failing miserably, and held out his hand to help her to her feet. "Well then, lets go get it fixed."


	9. Chapter 9 The Ritual

OF THEIR PAST

Disclaimer- Oh so not mine. I just like playing with them, even if Joss and all the other real owners scold me. Guess I just won't learn, /Grin/.

Note- Sorry about the delay on update-age. There was some life stuff, a entry in a short story comp, then some creative block and I have an exam on Monday. But my muse and I were at the negotiating table for a while and have come to a tentative agreement, therefore allowing me to write this chapter. Hopefully the length will make up for the wait.

Reviewer Responses:

Catlimere- I'm glad you love my Wesley, isn't he cute? I'm on a big Wesley kick at the moment because I've got an Angel calendar and this month's picture is Wesley, sigh so happy. Again with the spot on spookiness, it was my intent to have Angel's nod be his blessing. I'm delighted that you like my Cordelia, I'm a big Cordy fan and it's good to know that I make other people like her, even if it is just for this fic. Oh, hey finally the event you've been waiting for, the ritual. Hope you enjoy.

RainDancer2- /blushes/ Wow, thanks. Hope you're hanging in there (sorry couldn't resist).

Story Time:

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Chapter 9

Buffy absent-mindedly played with the buttons on Wesley's shirt as she watched Connor play with his toys. Angel, ignoring his injuries, had joined Connor on the floor and the two were currently playing some game that reminded her of the monster truck shows. She had never really thought about children before, she hadn't been lying to Angel when she had told him she killed her gold fish. Now, for some reason, she could picture her children perfectly, they would have sandy blonde hair and be athletic like their mother, but they would also be smart and have brilliant blue eyes like their father.

Buffy jerked her head up, her eyes wide with shock. What hell?

Wesley looked down at her, concern written across his face. "Buffy, is anything wrong?"

Numbly Buffy shook her head and she attempted to smile. "No, no. Nothing else anyway."

She settled back against him and groaned mentally. No, she was just trying to figure out when stuffy watcherman had become her ideal man and why she was imaging having children with him, nothing wrong with that at all.

The front door opened with a bang. Buffy jumped to her feet, anticipating a fight but glad for the interruption. She sighed with relief as Xander and Willow entered. They stopped beside the table holding the ingredients for the ritual. Willow surveyed the contents of the table before looking at the others, her eyes hard and determined.

"Good, you've got everything ready. We do this right now. I'm sick of being controlled." Willow glared at the others, daring them to object.

Buffy let out a sigh of relief. "You and me both. Well then, lets get this show on the road."

&&&&&&&&&&&

Angel carefully supported Cordelia as they entered the incomplete circle. She gritted her teeth, her anger and frustration showing in her expressive eyes. Angel looked down at her, concerned by her tense form.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked softly.

"No. I'm not alright. I'm about as far from alright as you can get." She snapped. Looking up into his wounded expression she sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just… I'm so sick of this. If I ever see Anya again there's going to major pain. I swore I would never be victimized again and now look at me; I can't even walk by myself."

Angel tightened his grip slightly, not wanting to hurt her. "I know. It'll be okay, when has Wesley let us down?" He paused. "Lately anyway?"

Cordelia smiled wearily at him. "Thank you, always gotta be my big fat hero huh?"

Angel dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Always."

Wesley coughed discreetly as he approached them. He smiled gently at them and anointed their foreheads with a mixture of Thestral blood and holy water. Angel hissed as the water began to burn him.

"Does Angel have to have that stuff on him?" Buffy asked from behind Wesley. She had chosen to stay with Wesley, just resting a hand on his shoulder as he assisted in the preparations. He was keeping her grounded and she didn't think that now would be a good time to go psycho.

Wesley glanced at her. "Unfortunately yes. It is meant to purify the physical bodies so any negative energies that may be resending on the occupants won't corrupt the circle."

Angel gritted his teeth. "It's fine. Don't worry, I've had worse."

Wesley nodded and moved on to anoint Willow and Xander. He stopped and turned to face Buffy. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked, staring intently into her eyes.

Buffy took a deep breath. She smiled up at him. "Yep, now anoint me and start the ritual already."

Wesley gently placed the mixture on her forehead and stepped backwards. Grabbing a container of sand he finished the circle and called for it to be blessed. He nodded at Giles, who rolled open the scroll as Wesley finished the second circle. The second circle encompassed not only the first circle but also the casters, protecting from any form of magical backlash. His eyes focused on Buffy, he reached out blindly joining hands with Daniel and Sam.

Giles began to chant, his voice smooth and melodic with the familiar Latin.

Cordelia found herself watching Connor, who was on the other side of the room, buffered by the couch. He sat quietly and played with Jack and that large guy Xander called Murray, or something like that. Both had declined being involved, claiming distrust of magic. She felt Angel squeeze her shoulder; she moved her hand up to cover his. She focused on Connor, the ritual was going to work she knew it. It had to, for Connor's sake. She relaxed and let the wave of magic sweep through her.

Buffy stood firm, focusing on her breathing, focusing on fighting her inner demon. She silently chanted her mantra; 'I am the Slayer, I can control it, I am stronger.'

She gasped as the wave of magic swept through her, images springing up behind her eyelids. She growled and began her mantra over.

Imagines of the alternate dimension flowed through all of them, the magic unleashing the memories. It delved into their souls, searching for the hurt, the damage that haunted them. The magic swirled visibly in the inner circle, whipping up a fierce wind.

Cordelia cried out, her puncture wounds bleeding freely. Angel growled loudly, his face sliding into his vampire visage and back. Blood soaked through his shirt, wounds appearing on his body at an alarming rate.

Giles chanted faster, his volume increasing on every word. Sam and Daniel gripped Wesley hands tightly as they watched wide-eyed. Wesley tensed as he watched his friends suffer, an overwhelming feeling of helplessness filling him.

Buffy gritted her teeth as the darkness reared in her. Her head snapped up, her eyes gleaming with a predatory light. She whipped her head around to look at Willow and Xander. "You!" She hissed, filled with rage.

She launched herself at them, determined to kill the vampires. Willow and Xander dived out of the way, rolling to their feet and turning to smirk at the slayer. Buffy darted forward, catching Willow in the mouth with a vicious backhand. Willow raised a hand to her mouth and wiped off the blood, she stared at her hand for a second before licking it off and grinning at Buffy. Willow kicked out at Buffy, catching her in the stomach and forcing her back into Xander. Xander snarled as Buffy kicked high over her head, breaking his nose. She jumped away from him, lashing out with her hands and feet.

Giles's chanting was harsh, the words ripped from his throat the second he formed them.

Willow sighed. "Bored now." She said, her voice lilting. She kicked Buffy behind the knees, forcing her down. Moving quickly Willow grabbed Buffy's arm, and placing her foot on Buffy's shoulder blade, pulled her arm back. Lovingly Willow ran her fingers along Buffy's hand. She wrapped her hand along the base of a finger preparing to yank it backwards, causing a painful break.

Giles was screaming now, determined to finish the spell.

Xander grinned wickedly. "Do it Wills. Do it."

Willow grinned back and tensed, just about to start playing with the Slayer-

Then there was silence. The wind stopped, time stopped for a second, there in the apartment. Suddenly there was bright flash as the magic divided itself, plunging into their bodies.

The five collapsed inside the circle.

Wesley quickly untangled himself and opened the circles, his panic overcoming the drain of energy the spell had caused.

Giles slumped against a nearby desk. His voice was hoarse, "Are they alive? Did it work? Did the spell work?"


	10. Chapter 10 Sleeping

Of Their Past.

Disclaimer- Don't own a thing, not even the couch in Giles's apartment.

Note- I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated this. And I've been sick as well, these last couple of days so I haven't written because I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have made any sense if I did.

_Catlimere-_ Thank you for your review, they always makes me happy. Wes has changed so much since he first arrived in Sunnydale, I just didn't want to watch the Angel finale. It's not fair! So sorry about last chapter's cliff hanger, I couldn't resist. I hope you enjoy this chapter; I needed a bit of fluff after some of the one-shots I've been writing lately.

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Chapter 10

Sam and Daniel stared wide-eyed at the collapsed body of their friend and teammate. "Sir," Sam called out her voice trembling.

Jack rose, leaving Connor with Teal'c. Jack came to stand behind Sam, one hand resting on her shoulder. He looked down at Xander, this was wrong, it never should have happened. He gave Sam's shoulder a squeeze and let go, turning to advance on Giles. His other hand clenching at his side, Jack pointed at Giles. His voice was low with anger. "This is your fault."

"Jack-" Daniel tried to interrupt.

"No, Daniel. It's his fault and he knows it. He got them involved in this, he's the reason this happened. He's killing them just like he killed Beth!" Jack was pointing at Giles, his breathing erratic and his whole body shaking with suppressed rage.

Giles automatically slipped into his lower class accent. "Ay, I never brought them into this fight, in fact I did everything I could to stop them. But they insisted, they weren't prepared to sit and keep their eyes closed like everyone else is in this town. After that I did everything in my power to keep them safe."

Jack snorted.

Giles's eyes flashed with anger. "I'd rather have them out there, knowing what's in the darkness and able to defends themselves, then out there with no idea. Like it or not, Jack, you have no say on their involvement. It's a kill or be killed situation here, and they aren't prepared to let any demon spawn overtake their home. I've known Xander for a lot longer then you have, and trust me if I thought that you or your friends here were going to cause any trouble; if Xander had given any indication, then you would have had your memory wiped and be thrown out on your arse before you could blink. There isn't anything any of us can do to stop them fighting, so don't bother trying." Giles took off his glasses and ran a hand over his eyes. "Look, mate. You want to have it out with me again, then fine. But we do it later, after I know they're fine."

Jack nodded. "Fine, later."

A giggle caught their attention. Cordelia had rolled on to her back, a large grin across her face. "Wow! That was, just wow!"

Buffy sat up, supported by Wesley. "I know, I feel really buzzed right now."

Willow crawled over to Xander and rested her head on his shoulder. "I feel like I've just drunk five mochas."

Angel jumped to his feet, his vampire constitution easily handling the high dose of magic while having the same effects. A happy grin that actually reached his eyes greeted the room. "I haven't felt this good in years."

"And your wounds?" Giles's asked.

Angel pulled off the blood soaked shirt, grimacing as it stuck to his skin. He ran a hand down his completely healed torso. "All gone; I can't even feel his emotions right now. This is great."

Giles sighed with relief, running a hand through his hair. He made his way over to the couch and flopped into the comfortable cushions.

Wesley let his head drop forward wearily, knocking lightly against Buffy's. "Oh, thank god."

Buffy got to her feet, pulling Wesley up after her. A thought wormed through her spell-induced fog of happiness. She slapped her forehead. "Mom! I forgot to call her, she's going to so angry with me, and we've been here for a couple of days."

Buffy quickly made her way over to the phone after she sat Wesley next to Giles on the couch. She dialed and started to speak animatedly, her hands gesturing as she spoke. After several minutes and a few pouts Buffy grinned widely and said goodbye. She bounced lightly on her feet, clapping her hands. "Guess what? Mom said that you guys can stay at our place, L.A. guys I mean. Not Xander's pals guys, cause I don't really know you well enough or at all really."

Angel looked up, interested. "Is she going to cook?" Years of living and working with humans had meant that he had started eating human food again; he had always liked the smell of Joyce's cooking and he was willing to bet that it tasted even better.

Buffy continued to move her feet. "Yep, she always does when something like this happens and we don't tell her. She wants to help, I guess."

Cordelia stood next to Angel, resting her head on his shoulder. She giggled and gestured towards Wesley, who had fallen asleep sitting up on the couch. "We probably should get him in a bed, he hasn't slept properly since all this first started."

Buffy's jumping got higher; it looked as if she was skipping without a rope. "Great, lets go. I'll get Wesley, you get Connor."

Angel gestured towards the window, a sliver of sunlight shining between the slits in the curtain. "Gonna be hard for me to go anywhere, and not burst into flames."

"No prob, Bob." She danced over to a closet and yanked the door open, giggling when one of the hinges broke. She pulled out a large, heavy blanket and chucked it at Angel. "There you go; it's left over from when Spike stayed here. Cordy and I'll put the roof up."

Willow and Xander leaned against the wall, arms flung around each other and inane smiles on their faces. Xander looked over at his teammates. "You guys can crash at our place. Hotels here aren't really safe."

Sam rubbed a hand over her eye and suppressed a yawn. "That'd be fine, Al. Thanks."

Xander straightened, removing his arms from around Willow and grabbing her hand. "Lets go then. G-man needs his sleep."

SG1 trudged after Xander, their tired eyes blinking rapidly at the intrusion of the bright sun. In complete contrast Willow laughed happily as Xander twirled her out the door. "See ya later, guys."

"Bye."

Buffy picked up Wesley and walked him over to Angel. "Here hold this."

She walked back to the couch, smiling as she watched Giles sleep, one arm hanging over the sideof the couch with his glasses in hand. She removed his glasses from his hand and placed them on the coffee table. She gently moved him so he was lying on the couch and placed a light blanket over him. Buffy leant down and placed a soft kiss to his forehead. "Sleep well."

&&&&&&&&&&

Joyce jumped as the door to her home crashed open. A smoking figure covered in a blanket dived through the door. She edge over to the umbrella stand Giles had given here and pulled out a heavy baseball bat. Taking a deep breath she brought the bat down on the figure's head.

"Oww." The muffled voice sounded kind of familiar, if not a bit whiny. Angel pulled the blanket off; rubbing the large bump that Joyce had given him. "What'd you do that for?" He pouted.

Buffy and Cordelia stood in the doorway giggling. Buffy grinned as she pulled Wesley into the house. "Go, Mom."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Angel. I thought you were a vampire." She paused. "I mean, I thought you were an evil vampire." Joyce peered at the scruffy man Buffy supported; he was leaning on her sleepily not even realizing where he was or whom he was with. "Is that Wesley?"

Cordelia smirked. "Yep, that's Wes. He's in his mountain man phase at the moment. He's normally not that unkempt."

Joyce melted as she caught sight of Connor resting in Cordelia's arms. The mother in her took over as she started cooing at him and tickling him.

Buffy smiled in amusement. "I'll take Wes up stairs before he falls asleep standing up."

"Okay." Joyce answered distractedly.

&&&&&&&&&&

They all sat in the Summers' kitchen, the blinds pulled down for Angel's sake. Joyce sipped her coffee. "So you were all possessed?"

Angel nodded, his cheeks bugling with Joyce's apple cake. Buffy and Cordelia rolled their eyes at him. "Not all of us. Giles and Wes weren't, or any one else in L.A. It was just the five of us."

Joyce shook her head. "I can't believe that you were possessed by your alternate dimension counterparts."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "All in a days work for the Scooby gang."

"So why was Wesley so tired?" Joyce gestured upward.

Buffy reached for the coffee, scowling as Joyce batted her hands away from it. "They all were. Giles fell asleep on his couch before we left. They never actually went to sleep, then the spell drained their energy, so sleepy time."

Joyce worried her lip. "I guess that means that our date for tonight is off then."

Cordelia looked up from Connor. "Date? What date?"

"Mom and Giles have this on and off again, kinda, sorta thing. They date sometimes." Buffy explained.

Angel smirked at her. "And you're okay with this?"

Buffy shrugged. "I'd rather see her with Giles, then with someone like that Ted robot. At least he knows what I can do to him if he hurts her."

Joyce smiled at her and brushed her hair out of her eyes. Buffy smiled back. "But I think he's more afraid of Mom though."

Joyce laughed. "That's right, I'd hit him over the head with my baseball bat."

Angel rubbed his head. "Well, you have a good swing. Spike thought so too."

"Oh, how is Spike? I haven't spoken to him for a few weeks." Joyce started to clear the dishes.

"He's fine, he and Faith are minding the business with Fred and Gunn while we're here." Angel groaned and covered his eyes. "I'm just hoping Fred can control the three of them."

Cordelia laughed. "I think Spike and Faith will be too busy fighting to bother Fred. You know how they are."

Angel groaned again. "My poor hotel."

A loud yawn drew their attention to the doorway. Wesley stood there rubbing the sleep out of his eyes; he stumbled in and grabbed a cup of coffee. He let out a rumble of appreciation as the caffeine worked its way into his system.

Cordelia arched her eyebrow at him. "Nice boxers."

He looked down at himself, he was only clad in a pair of bright blue boxer shorts. A pale flush covered his face and neck. "Bugger."

Joyce gasped as she saw the scars that dotted his torso. "My god, how did you get all those?"

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she spotted the thick scar tissue. "That's a bullet wound."

He ran a light finger over it. "Yes it is, I got shot." He turned towards the door. "I should get dressed."

"You don't have to." Joyce called out, making him blush again.

"Mom!" Buffy cried.

Joyce looked at her daughter innocently. "What? I was just saying he was attractive."

"Mom!"

"What? You don't think he's good looking?"

"Mom! That's not the point."

Joyce pulled out her trump card. "Because as tired as he was, I'm pretty sure that he didn't undress himself."

"Mom!"


	11. Chapter 11 Patrolling

**Of Their Past**

Disclaimer- None of the characters belong to me, I just like playing with them and promise to return them in relatively good condition (hey, what can I do? Buffy's got a temper).  
Note- Sorry for the extreme lateness of this update, I didn't realize it had been this long since I last updated. So, because I've been so slack (and because they finally showed S8 and are now showing Stargate: Atlantis in Australia) this chapter is double my usual length. Plus I already have chapter 12 written I just have to type it, it should be up by the end of the week.  
Note 2- Now I've done the apologizing I'll skip straight to asking for a favour. I need someone who is a complete SG-1 nut to help me with this story. I'm talking knowing the episode titles, picking up errors in the books, arguing with the computer screen when somebody gets something wrong. Sadly the time in which this story is set I'm a little fuzzy on, so someone that I can e-mail for answers to the questions that bug me would be great, or if people know excellent sites that they could direct me to… Please?

xxx

Chapter 11

Wesley rubbed his wet hair with a towel as he made his way down the stairs for a second time, this time ensuring that he was fully dressed before he faced his friends and the Summers women. He rubbed a hand over his freshly shaven face with relief, he had be starting to get a bit itchy. Years in the Watcher's Academy and later in the Council itself had given him a preference for being cleanly shaven; some of the most backward thinking people in the Council grew beards and Wesley did not want to resemble them even in such a tiny superficial manner.

Wesley walked towards the front door and peered out. The sun was quickly setting, there were perhaps one or two hours of dull afternoon sunlight left. He yawned, his jaw popping with the pressure. After that nap and a warm shower he felt almost back to normal. He hated doing major ritual magic like that; he didn't have the reserve of magic like Willow, nor did have the ability to call upon major powers in order to raise that amount of power like Giles had and he had no where near the experience that Willow and Giles both had. Wesley's experiences with magic had been broadened during his time in L.A., mainly through necessity rather than for the pleasure of it; before that his experience with magic had been supervised by the Council and rather limited.

Wesley combed his fingers through his short hair, the damp towel dangling from his hand. Still, even with his limited experience and power, he could understand why some people could become addicted to magic. The state it had left Buffy, Angel and Cordy in, well it was better than any drug available. Had he been more energetic when the spell was cast, and had it not taken so much out of his already depleted system and if he had not been so concerned for his friends, then he was sure that he would have taken more enjoyment out of the powerful magics that coursed through his veins.

"Wes, is that you?" Cordelia called from the kitchen.

Wesley walked into the kitchen, damp towel still held in one hand. "Is there a problem?"

Buffy smiled up at him from the table. "No problem, Willow and Xander just called. They're thinking of taking out Xander's military buddies on patrol tonight, let them really see Sunnydale as it were. You up for it?"

Wesley raised an eyebrow at Buffy causing her to blush and the others to quietly snicker behind their hands. "I wouldn't mind patrolling tonight."

Buffy beamed at him and clapped her hands together. "That's great! I'll call Wills. Mom and Giles are going to look after Connor while we're out."

Joyce smiled. "It'll be nice to have a child around for a little while. Beside I don't think Rupert will be able to do anything to strenuous."

Buffy scrunched up her nose. "Eeew. Never mention that word in connection with Giles in my presence ever again. It's just… yuck."

Joyce's eyes sparkled. "So it's okay for you to have sex but it's not for me?"

Buffy paled. "No, it's… gross!"

"I don't see why," Joyce argued, enjoying making her daughter squirm. "Rupert is after all very attractive-"

Buffy clamped her hands over her ears. "La la la la. I'm not listening!"

Cordelia looked from the pale, chanting Buffy to Joyce, who was smirking into her coffee cup. Cordelia's brow rose in admiration. "I should be taking notes. This is good stuff. 'How to punish Connor.'"

Angel bit his lip, suddenly worried. He looked at his son. "Do you think we'll have to?"

Cordelia snorted. "Of course we'll have to. He's going to be a teenager one-day, he's related to you and he's growing up around Faith, Gunn and Spike. There's going to be a lot of disciplining."

Angel's eternally smooth brow wrinkled. "You're right. Maybe we should kick Spike out?"

Wesley pulled out a chair and sat down, keeping one eye on the pouting Slayer. "I've already tried that, it doesn't work. He just comes back. I swear he would survive an atomic blast."

Cordelia grinned. "Spike the cockroach."

"Spike's a what now?" Buffy had returned to the land of maturity and removed her hands from her ears.

"A cockroach. Unfortunately they don't make a roach motel big enough for Spike." Cordelia grinned widely.

Buffy laughed. "Why do you think I left him with you? I mean the part where it bugs Angel is fun and yeah the Initiative were getting too close, but still the pain in the butt factor was pretty big."

Angel looked at Buffy dourly. "Thanks, you know I'm really feeling the love lately. In between you, Faith and Cordelia I'm surprised I don't explode with happiness."

Buffy reached over and poked him in the stomach. "We're just here to keep your head from getting too inflated, what with all those damsels in distress that L.A. holds and the 'oh, Angel's'."

Angel grimaced and looked over at Cordelia, who refused to meet his gaze. "You've been talking to Cordy, I see."

Buffy shrugged. "It came up in conversation."

"I bet," Angel muttered under his breath.

Cordelia shot him a glare.

Buffy leaned back in her chair and smiled. For a long time she had thought that she would never get over Angel leaving, that she would never get over loving him, but on that trip to drop off Spike those few years ago she was surprised that it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. She was glad that she got the opportunity to know the new Angel and the new Cordelia Chase, not to mention being very glad to meet the new Wesley, their time in L.A. had been good for them. She was thankful that she could look at them now and count them amongst her friends. Buffy's eyes slid over to Wesley. Friends and perhaps more.

xxxxx

Doctor Daniel Jackson had a not so secret addiction. It was something that nearly everyone at the base knew about and it was one that a few people had tried to exploit. Daniel shook his head; some of those nurses were ruthless.

Daniel rubbed his head as he stumbled into the kitchen. Coffee. He needed coffee and lots of it, in fact if someone could just hook an IV up to his arm that'd be great. Daniel yawned widely, his jaw popping loudly. Grumbling to himself, Daniel rubbed his jaw and headed straight for the cabinets. He opened one and frowned, no coffee cups.

"Two to your left."

Daniel stumbled to his left and opened the cabinet door. Success! He pulled one out and groped for the source of the oh-so tempting smell that had drawn him from his comfy position on the couch.

"Just to your right."

Daniel fumbled around until he felt the warm pot of coffee. With an ease that comes from years of practice Daniel poured the coffee into his cup without spilling a single drop.

Eyes barely opened a crack Daniel returned the coffee pot to the machine and stumbled into a chair. He raised the cup to his nose and breathed in deeply.

"Have a good sleep, Danny?"

Daniel forced an eye open and looked at Jack. Jack's wide grin faded as he saw the lines of exhaustion on his face and how bloodshot the eye was.

"Geeze, Space monkey, you look like you've been on a bender."

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson. You do not look well."

Daniel rested his head in one hand. "Thanks, Jack, Teal'c. That's just want I wanted to hear."

"You are welcome, Daniel Jackson."

A light giggle drew his attention away from his teammates. He forced both eyes open and looked to the red head sitting next to Al across the table from him. Daniel looked around the kitchen then down at the cup of coffee in his hands. A light blush spread across his cheeks.

"Sorry."

Willow waved a hand airily. "It's alright. Xander's already filled me in about the coffee thing. I wouldn't worry about the fatigue; magic tends to drain a person's energy, especially if it's your first time. And that was a pretty big spell."

Daniel's brow furrowed. 'Xander? Who was Xand- Oh, right, Al.'

Daniel studied Al as he sipped at the coffee. There was something that man was not telling them, he could feel it in his bones.

Xander relaxed against his chair, meeting the archeologist's gaze head on. He quirked an eyebrow, a useful trait he had picked up from Teal'c. "You going to be okay to do a patrol tonight, Daniel? A couple of hours, a couple of cemeteries, a few vampires, maybe The Brozne?"

Willow shook her head sternly at him. "No Bronze. You nearly got us kicked out last time, throwing that vampire onto the table like that."

"He was going to bite that girl!"

"Xander, you destroyed half the bar! It was a little excessive."

Xander tensed and shifted in his seat, now unable to meet her eye. "There were circumstances."

Willow's lips thinned. This was something that had obviously been brought up before. She pushed her chair back abruptly. "I have to check on Tara and Jonathan, and Amy needs her cage cleaned out. It hasn't been done since you got home."

Xander pushed his chair back. "I'll do it."

Willow had started to walk out of the room, at his words she stopped but didn't turn around. She nodded once and continued to walk out, leaving three of four males at the table mystified.

Xander opened up a small cupboard and pulled out a small brush and a container of pellets. He could feel the stares of his friends on his back. He knelt in front of Amy's cage, running a finger down her back. He started to clean out the cage, filling up the pellet dish, replacing the water and removing the unpleasant stuff.

"It was just after that battle." He knew they wanted some kind of explanation, even if they wouldn't ask for one. "I took leave and came home."

They nodded slowly. They all knew how difficult that battle was for Al.

Jack shifted his weight; all the tension in the room was starting to get to him. "You know, there's something that's been bugging me."

"What, sir?" The question came a little harsher than normal.

Jack ignored it. The kid was having a tough enough time.

"Why, on earth, do you have a rat in your kitchen?"

xxxxx

Buffy was sorting through the large weapons chest in the middle of the lounge room. She hummed happily to herself as she shifted through the axes, swords and assorted stakes. For patrol they needed weapons, lots and lots of shiny, pretty weapons.

Needless to say she was still slightly feeling a buzz from the ritual. Grabbing axes, swords and many, many stakes she shoved her weapons into the bag she had set aside for slaying years ago.

Buffy looked at the bag, really looked at it for the first time in years. Her brows arched and the corner of her lips quirked. It looked like a doctors bag! She started to giggle wildly.

Wesley stopped in the doorway, staring at the giggling slayer in concern. "Buffy, are you all right?"

Buffy held her stomach. "It looks… like…a… doctor's bag!" The sentence was broken by giggles.

Wesley studied the black bag at her feet. He titled his head to the side. He supposed it did rather resemble a doctor's bag, perhaps a little on the large side, but it was the same shape and style all the same. "And this strikes you as amusing?"

Buffy shrugged, getting her giggles under control. "I never noticed it before."

Though the giggles were gone a wide smile remained and Wesley was glad. During his short stint in Sunnydale as her Watcher he had rarely seen her so happy, yes she had smiled and laughed (usually at him) but even then she couldn't have been genuinely happy. It was a good look for her.

A knock on the door made Wesley clear his throat and shift his feet. Buffy jumped to hers and bounded to the door.

"I'll get it!"

Buffy yanked the door open to reveal a sullen Willow, an exasperated Xander and four very confused and slightly bemused people.

Buffy's smile dimmed. "Hey, guys. Mom, Angel and Cordy are in the kitchen."

Without a word and with a backwards glare at Xander Willow stormed into the kitchen, leaving the others still standing in the doorway.

"Okay, what did you do?"

Xander turned to look at Buffy. "Nothing." He fidgeted under her glare and the hands on the hips pose Buffy had perfected. "All I did was bring up the Bronze!"

"Oh." Buffy looked over at Xander's teammates. All four had discreetly their eyes, carefully studying the wall.

Jack looked into the lounge room, a glint of light catching his eye. "Hey, look, weapons. Let's go have a look."

Jack grabbed Daniel's arm and dragged him into the room. Sam and Teal'c followed at a more sedate pace, a small, amused smile on Sam's face as she watched Daniel frown in confusion at Jack.

Xander scrubbed a hand through his regulation short hair. "Well?"

"Well what?"

Xander sighed. "Are you going to tell me what an idiot I am and what I did wrong?"

Buffy looked down at her shoes. "You scared her, Xander. You scared me. You were so angry. I've never seen you like that before. It was like watching you-" Buffy cut herself off.

"My father." Xander completed dully. "I reminded her of my father." He became stiff with shock. "I'm not him, Buffy. I refuse to be anything like him."

Buffy rested a hand on his arm, surprised at how tense he was. "I know, Xander, but you have to admit that that night you were intense. And it's not just that. Willow's told me about the scars and the nightmares. You're scaring her. She's worried about you and you just keep brushing it off."

"I don't-" Xander let out a sound of frustration. "There are certain things I can't tell her. My work is highly classified."

"That's bull, Xander, and you know it."

His eyes flashed. "My work means a lot to me, Buff. We can't all be like Riley."

Xander didn't see the fist swinging towards his face, but boy did he feel it. Xander stumbled back against the wall, blood dripping from the skin that had split across his cheekbone.

"Al!" Sam had turned at the exact moment Buffy's fist had connected with Xander's face.

Xander shook off his teammates hands, hauling himself to his feet. He gratefully accepted Wesley's handkerchief and pressed it against the injury, hissing at the contact.

Joyce, Angel, Cordy and Willow had rushed out of the kitchen at the sound of Xander hitting the wall. A horrified expression replaced the worried one on Joyce's face. With mother's eyes she quickly spotted the guilt on Buffy's face.

"Buffy Anne Summers! You apologize to Xander this minute! I cannot believe you. I raised you to better than this!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Summers," Xander cut in. "I deserved it. I shouldn't have attacked Riley like that."

Buffy winced as he pulled away the cloth. "That's probably going to scar."

Xander dabbed at it and shrugged. "What's one more to the list?"

There was an awkward pause, no one knowing quite what to say.

Wesley cleared his throat. "It's getting dark."

Everyone looked towards the window.

"Right," Buffy said uncomfortably. "We should get going soon."

Joyce nodded; lips still pursed, and held out a hand towards Xander. "Come into that kitchen, Xander. I'll patch you up before patrol."

Xander shook his head. "I'm okay, Mrs. Summers."

Joyce placed her hands on her hips, something that Buffy must have learnt off her, raised her brows and tapped her foot in a measured pace. "Xander."

Xander sighed. "Yes, Mrs. Summers." He trailed after her into the kitchen shoulders slumped.

"Huh," Jack said as he watched Xander get tended to. "And here I thought it was the Doc that made him so…"

"Compliant?" Sam suggested.

Jack grinned. "Well, she does have those needles. And she is overly fond of them."

"If you say so, sir."

xxxxx

Jack clapped his hands together. "So how does this work?"

"Well," Buffy said as she pulled weapons out of her bag and started distributing them. "Giles and Willow usually go through the obits and the morgue reports and come up with a list of potential vamps. We check them out, patrol a bit, occasionally ran into a demon or two."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Yep. It's no use sneaking around and making goofy hand signals around here. Most of the time they already know you're there, what with the superior senses and all."

"Goofy hand signals?"

"Yeah." Buffy titled her head. "You know, like that one that looks like you're pulling the thingame on a steam engine." Buffy demonstrated. "Choo choo."

Sam giggled, there was something about Al's friends that were extremely entertaining.

Jack mock glared at her. "Carter."

"Sorry, sir."

Buffy tapped a stake against her palm. "You two done?" Without waiting for an answer Buffy continued. "We're too big a group to go together. We should break up into three teams."

She ran her eyes over the group assessing them. "Okay, Doctor Jackson and Murray?"

Teal'c nodded, his arms behind his back; the short sleeve black shirt that he wore emphasizing his massive frame and clashing with the black beanie he had not taken off since leaving the mountain.

"You two go with Willow and Xander. Major Carter, you're with Cordelia and Angel. And Colonel O'Neill, you're with Wesley and me. Will's, you and Xand go thata way; Cordy, you and Angel to the left and we'll go straight through the middle. We meet back here. Any questions?"

She was meet with silence.

"Good. Let's get going. Those vampires don't slay themselves, you know."

Daniel leaned towards Xander. "Is she always like this?"

Xander grinned easily, anger over the punch already forgotten. "Nah, sometimes she's bossy."

The teams started to move out. Jack wasn't too thrilled that both himself and Carter were split from the rest of the team, but there was nothing her could do about it, besides he knew that Carter could take care of herself.

'Xander?' 

Xander stopped as Buffy's voice rumbled through his mind.

_'I'm sorry I hit you.'_

_'It's okay, Buffy. 'S not like it was the first time, probably won't be the last either.'_

Buffy chuckled.

_'What am I going to do, Buffy? She won't talk to me, won't even look at me.'_

Buffy sighed. _'You could try telling her the truth?'_

_'Buffy.'_ He warned.

_'Sorry.'_ She didn't sound it. _'Apologize, profusely; grovel; beg for forgiveness?'_

_'Begging and groveling. I can do that, after all I dated Cordelia, didn't I?'_

Buffy laughed. _'We questioned your sanity.'_

_'Hell, I questioned my sanity.'_

For a minute or two there was silence and Xander realized that he had been blindly following Willow through a cemetery, paying no attention to his surroundings. He berated himself; he had just broken one of the cardinal rules. You always had to pay attention to your surroundings, you never knew where the next attack was coming from, no matter what world you were on.

_'Xander?' _Buffy was back.

_'Yeah, Buff?'_

_'You'd tell us if they were hurting you, wouldn't you?' _There was suddenly a little girl quality to her voice. _'I saw what they did to Riley. I don't want them to do that to you. I don't want Willow to go through what I did.'_

Xander was shocked, he never knew the thing with Riley and the Initiative had affected her so much. _'Buffy, I promise you if I ever think that the Airforceis trying to drug me you'll be the first I tell.'_

_'Good.' _She paused again. _'Get your back, Xander. Don't let it fester.'_

_'I won't. Now get back to patrolling.'_

There was a chuckle. _'Yes, sir!'_

Xander looked around once more to find that he had fallen in step with Teal'c, something he had done on many a mission, and that Teal'c had been keeping an eye on him while he had that little mental heart to heart with Buffy.

"Thanks, T."

Teal'c inclined his head. "You are welcome, Captain Harris."

Xander looked ahead. Willow was leading them through the cemetery to one of the fresh graves. Daniel was trailing after her, the unusual headstone and statues catching his attention and occasionally drawing him off the path. Subconsciously Xander and Teal'c had moved to bring up the rear, weapons clutched tightly in hand. They weren't P-90s or a staff weapon, but they were reassuring and familiar all the same.

Xander studied the back of Willow's head, the dark turning her hair to raven wing. Back when they were six years old and he gave his crayon to her, it was her hair that drew him to her. He had never seen anyone with hair that colour before, had never seen anyone with quite that shade since.

He drew in a deep breath. _'Willow?'_

xxxxx

"So…" Cordelia cleared her throat. She had no idea what to say to this woman. What was Buffy thinking putting her with them? She could have at least teamed them up with the yummy Doctor Jackson.

"You work with Xander?"

Cordelia shot Angel a thankful glance.

Sam smiled tightly. "Yes."

"In Colorado, doing… Deep Space Radar Telemetry?"

"Yes."

"Must be interesting," Cordelia commented dryly.

Sam chuckled to herself. If only they knew. "You'd be surprised."

"Actually, I'm kinda surprised Xander had stand it. It sounds like a job for the Wesley's and Fred's of the world, no offence."

Sam's lips quirked. "None taken." Especially since she didn't know who 'Fred' was.

"It's just," Cordelia continued. "This life can get addictive and he's been doing this since he was sixteen. I can't really see him just standing around guarding inanimate objects or doing paperwork."

Sam was quick to defend her friend. "Al's very good at his job."

"Oh, no doubt. When Xander puts his mind to something he gets it done, but I've known Xander a long time and he won't sit idly by."

Thinking back to that last few months (God, had it really just been months?) with Al Sam had to admit that Cordelia was right, he always liked to be in the thick of it when the chips came down. But she couldn't very well tell these civilians that Al had helped save Earth and several other planets and had saved each of their lives.

So she changed track instead. "You've know Al since he was sixteen?"

Cordelia laughed. "Oh no, Angel's known him since he was sixteen." She stuck a thumb at the dark vampire that was scanning the cemetery, giving no signs of paying attention except the twitching of his ears. "I've known Xander since he was six, hell I even dated him for a while."

"You dated Al? But I thought that he and Willow…?"

"Xander was an idiot in high school."

Angel snorted and muttered lowly to himself.

Cordelia glared at him. "She had a crush, he saw her as one of the guys. They didn't start dating 'till Xander was a cadet and Willow was in college."

"Sounds like something out of a cheesy romance novel."

"Yeah, with vampires, demons and the forces of darkness."

"I'd read it."

Cordelia laughed, she was starting to like this woman.

Sam turned to the silent Angel. "So, you're a vampire?"

Cordelia grinned. Oh, yeah, they'd get along just fine.


	12. Chapter 12 Yet More Patrolling

**Of Their Past**

Disclaimer- Just borrowing the characters from their rightful owners, a girl needs a little fun now and again.  
Note- Thanks to GreyMatter for all the info  
xxx

Chapter 12

"Well, this is certainly fascinating." Jack swung his legs nosily against the headstone upon which he was perched.

Wesley and Buffy focused on the fresh grave before them.

"In New Orleans they believe that if you knock on someone's grave three times you'll wake them." Wesley departed this gem of knowledge in complete deadpan.

Jack jumped off the headstone and looked down nervously. He had seen too much to start discounting things. "Really?"

Wesley nodded. "Of course you are meant to draw three crosses on the headstone first. I've never ready any accounts of it occurring… yet."

Jack scowled as Buffy laughed.

"Very funny," he muttered.

"You're worse than Xander used to be. I thought you military types were supposed to be patient." Buffy's voice betrayed her exasperation.

Jack shrugged. "What can I say? I get bored staring at headstones."

There was a long pause.

"Lay off Giles."

Jack looked over at the diminutive blonde, surprised by the menace and steel in her tone. "What?"

Buffy turned and met his eyes. "Stop hassling Giles about Xander and this life. Xander chose it, we all did and Giles does his damnedest to keep us safe! He's not that rebelling, angry person anymore. We couldn't have asked for a better father."

Jack nodded to himself. "I thought there was some ulterior motive to this team. You don't understand, you couldn't, you're too young. I've loved three women in my life, two I've lost and one I can never have. Because of Ripper I lost Beth."

Buffy's mouth tensed. "I don't care. We've all lost people. But what we're doing? It's too important for your petty squabbles to be getting in the way. Xander's a grown man. He can make his own decisions."

Jack's expression was carefully neutral. "I'm aware of that."

Buffy studied his face; her slayer senses no match for the black ops training and many years of having to be the hardnosed, tough as nails O'Neill. "Good."

"Al's a member of my team. I look out for my team."

Wesley piped up for the first time during this confrontation. "As would be expected of you." His tone and expression were carefully guarded. This was something in which he would take no side, though he still stood just behind Buffy, scanning their surroundings.

"Xander is one of my best friends. I've been looking out for him for over seven years."

Jack's jaw clenched, tense muscles ticking tightly. He was not going to get into a childish argument with a small blonde twenty years his junior. He was not going to get into a childish argument- "Now you see here-"

"Perhaps you two might continue this later? We have company," Wesley snapped.

Jack and Buffy both looked up, both seeing the vampire that had clawed it's way out of his grave and the few arranged vampires that showed up to welcome their new childe into the fold.

"Slayer!" The lead vampire hissed.

"Vampire!" Buffy bandied back.

The vampire jabbed an insistent finger in their direction. "I'll eat your heart, Slayer!"

Buffy eyed him up and down. The guy was scrawny with a capital scraw, it was like he never outgrew that gangly stage.

"Uh huh." She pulled out a stake and let it fly in one smooth motion. It struck the heart and the vampire dusted with an enraged cry. "Good luck with that."

Jack looked down at his open palm as he felt a smooth piece of wood get slapped into it. "What kills these guys again?"

Buffy faced off against the rest of the group. "I thought we went over this."

"Nope."

"Holy water burns like acid, beheading, fire and-"

A female screeched and rushed the slayer. Buffy side stepped and casually thrust the stake into her back, puncturing the heart. The vampire became dust in the wind.

"That works pretty well too."

"Good to know."

The remaining three vampires, four including the vampire that had just arisen, milled about. They looked apprehensively at the group. The Slayer had a fearsome reputation and she had just taken out two of their own. Finally, the newbie could take it no more, the hunger was too great. With a snarl he leapt forward.

Jack stumbled back with a muffled curse, his gaze fixed on the amber eyes, protruding brow and jagged teeth of the creature that was attacking him.

The vampire barely paused before lunging again, this time knocking Jack to the ground. The vampire's chest rumbled as he growled, his eyes fixed on Jack's throat, obviously thinking the older man to be no threat.

That

Was

A

Big

Mistake.

At the same time Jack's knee came up as his hand formed a fist and swung in a punishing right hook. The vampire howled as he fell back, howled with pain and anger.

Jack quickly scrambled to his feet and readjusted his grip on the stake, the familiar feeding of adrenaline rushing through his veins buffering from any aches or injuries.

The newbie vamp stretched out his arms and spread his fingers looking more like claws. With a low wail he charged Jack, amber eyes reflecting his hunger.

Jack waited for him to near before stepping out of the way and plunging the borrowed stake into it's heart. The vampire dissolved into a large cloud of dust. Jack waved a hand in front of his face and coughed, inhaling vampire dust couldn't be good for his health.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he stared at the remains. "That was surprisingly… easy."

Buffy snorted with amusement. "He was newbie. Didn't have time to pick up the kung-fu moves." She eyed the remaining vamps with an experienced eye. "Unfortunately you'll see 'em real soon."

Jack knew what she meant. He could practically seem a count down flashing above the milling and whispering vampires as the tension rose. 5…4…3…2…1

As one the vampires attacked. Two charged Buffy. Buffy whirled, grabbing the collar of one and throwing it towards Wesley. Wesley flicked his right hand, a wicked looking collapsible sword slipping out and clipping into place. The vampire was bent over, his hands held in front of him as he edged around Wesley, trying to find a way to without encountering his sword. The dark-haired vampire lunged to one side. Wesley followed, bringing his sword around in an arc. With a growl the vampire stepped back. This happened several times; the vampire, lips drawn back from white teeth in a snarl, lunged at Wesley, testing his reflexes, his strengths and weaknesses, and Wesley would follow never allowing the vampire an opening.

Finally Wesley got sick of playing. He lashed out, the sword blurring in the pale moonlight. The vampire avoided the sharp blade as best he could but soon his face, arms and chest were covered in nicks, scratches and a few very serious, bone revealing cuts. Wesley swung, the blade sinking deeply into the vampire's arm. The vampire hissed and pulled away from the blade, holding the cut together with one hand.

"You'll pay for that, human." The vampire's voice was low and sounded akin to two rocks being ground together.

In one swift motion the sword raked across the vampire's throat. Instinctively he clutched at it, blood dripping between his fingers. With one hand clasping the cut on his arm and the other on his throat the vampire had no way of stopping the stake that pierced his heart.

The dust barely had time to settle before Wesley was on the move once more. Wesley ran over to where he had last seen Buffy, he hadn't realized that he had moved so far away during the fight. Wesley slowed to a stop as Buffy came into sight. He had almost forgotten this. Watching Buffy Summers fight was like nothing else on earth. The closest comparison he had was watching a ballet. Every move seem choreographed, every move faultless, grace and effortless.

He felt a smile twitch his lips. Gods, she was beautiful.

Buffy grunted as a particularly hard punch caught her in the solar plexus. The female she was fighting was clearly the leader of the clan. She was strong, fast and obviously years older than the rest of the other four.

Buffy blocked a head punch that she knew had it connected would have knocked her for a six. 'Knocked her for a six?' Where did that come from? Buffy frowned and shook her head. She had been spending way too much time around British people. Buffy caught sight of Wesley out of the corner of her eye. Not that that was such a bad thing.

Buffy let out an exclamation of surprise as the female vampire took advantage of her distraction and kicked at the Slayer's knees. She fell into a roll and sprang back to her feet. Okay. If the vamp wanted to play it that way it was fine by her.

"Buffy!" Wesley started forward.

Buffy waved a hand at him. "I'm fine. Go help Colonel O'Neill."

Wesley hesitated before he saw the set of her jaw, the tenseness of her muscles and her narrowed eyes. It reminded him somewhat of Cordelia when something really enraged her, like when that demon had ruined her $200 designer shoes, or when Angel gave away her clothes. Wesley nodded quickly and jogged off to find the Colonel.

Buffy raised her guards, cheeky smirk in place. She opened her outermost fist and did the Bruce Lee 'come and get me' gesture. The vampire growled and charged forward.

Buffy grinned as she blocked a punch and jumped over a low sweeping kick. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

xxxxx

Jack blocked a punch to his face, wincing at the painful impact. The three remaining vampires had each picked a victim, intent on separating them and killing them one by one.

So far they had succeeded with the separating. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of either Buffy or Wesley for at least five minutes.

Jack kicked at the knees of the large vampire he was fighting, grimacing at the loud crack. The vampire fell on his back, crying out in pain and gripped his knees. Maybe he had kicked a little hard, he was sure that he had heard a snap as well when the fell.

Jack watched as the vampire writhed and cursed on the ground.

Wesley ran up. "Stake him," he called out.

Jack shook himself out of his daze and looked blankly down at his hands. The stake was gone. He must have lost it some time during the fight, during the dodging, ducking, weaving and blocking.

Upon seeing Jack's dilemma Wesley pulled out one of his many secreted away stakes and tossed it towards him. Jack caught it with ease.

The vampire tried to haul himself to his feet. "I'll make you pay for that, old man."

The quip left Jack's mouth before he had time to process it. "Do ya take credit card? I'm flat outa cash."

This lips were peeled back from sharp, jagged teeth as the vampire tried to find exposed skin.

Jack's eyes widened slightly, very slightly. With one heavy boot he kicked the vampire in the mouth, shattering several teeth. While it was still in a daze Jack quickly crouched down and staked it, ignoring the groaning in his own knees.

"Good job," Wesley congratulated him. "Nice to know our tax money is well spent."

Jack looked up. His face was set in a grim expression. "I hesitated."

Wesley nodded; he couldn't deny that. "Still, rather good for your second unassisted staking."

Jack frowned, still unpleased with himself. Perhaps he would have said more, or made a sarcastic quip had the sounds of a fight not drifted closer to them.

Wesley looked up immediately. "Buffy."

Jack scowled. That little girl was going to get herself killed one of these days. Ignoring any protests that his tired, aching body could have lodged with his mind. Jack coaxed his knees into a run.

He came to a sudden stop when he saw the fight. The tiny girl he had been arguing with not half an hour ago had just take a hit with a tree branch the size of Teal'c's arm, and she had barely stumbled back before she was on the offensive again.

Jack felt his jaw drop open.

Wesley slowly wandered up beside him and stopped to watch the fight. "Buffy is quite capable. I assure you she does not need our protection, it's rather the other way around."

"I can see that," Jack managed to force out.

Seeing that she was about to lose, the vampire Buffy was fighting resorted to the last thing a person would ordinarily do in a fight to the death against a slayer. She pulled her hair.

Buffy screeched in protest as she felt several strand rip out of her head. "How… many… times… do I…. have to… tell you? Not… the… hair!" Each word was punctuated by a punch to the face, followed by a very swift stake to the heart.

"Oww!" Buffy rubbed her head and pouted. "That hurt!"

Jack's eyebrows decided to visit his hairline as he watched the pouting slayer.

Wesley grinned and chuckled to himself.

Buffy's bottom lip stuck out further. "What?" She demanded of them.

Wesley shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.

Jack's eyebrows, having decided that his hairline wasn't all that fun, returned to it's rightful place and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"That was… impressive."

Her pout magically turned into a grin. "That was nothing. Let's go see if we can find something fun."

xxxxx

Sam placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles as Angel gave them a mock glare. She couldn't help it. Cordelia had really loosened up over the last hour and had started making quips at the expense of her friends, Al and Angel especially. They might have seemed harsh and cruel had there not been a playful twinkle in her eye and, after making Angel wince, something about L.A. in the '50s and… fury, Sam didn't quite get that one; had she not grabbed Angel's arm and shook it, grinning madly.

She couldn't treat this like a mission, it was more like a might out with new friends. Soon after splitting up and going their separate directions Angel had told her bits and pieces from his life, at the direction of Cordelia. It boggled the mind, even hers. This man had lived for so long and had seen so many changes. Some of the stories he told her… the man was a natural storyteller. Willow and Al had told them the story (a very abridged version) about how Angel gained, lost and regained his soul. But when Angel told it, anguish apparent in his eyes, it brought a tear to her eye.

She was really enjoying tonight, even if they had spent most of it walking through graveyards and cemeteries. Sam grinned widely, plus after tonight she had a lot of blackmail material to use against Al should a situation call for it. Not that Cordelia had any less. Obviously Sam couldn't tell them much, most of the extremely embrassing stuff had happened off world and they had made a truce not to bring up certain things ever again. There were, however, quite a few on world instances, most of them including alcohol, food and for some reason The Simpsons.

"So after that Xander was possessed by his Halloween costume, actually everyone that brought their costumes, or a prop, from this new store was possessed by their costumes. Buffy was this brainless 18th century rich lady, Xander was a soldier and Willow was a ghost-"

"A ghost?" Angel interrupted. "Ghost of what?"

"You've never seen a ghost in a midriff baring top, miniskirt and knee high boots?" Cordelia asked archly.

"Not lately."

"You know," Cordelia confided in Sam. "After seeing Willow in that costume I'm surprised that it took Xander so long to realize Willow was a girl. 'Course I woulda been happier if he had realized while he wasn't dating me."

"Oh," Sam didn't know what quite to say.

Cordelia waved a hand. "It's fine. If they hadn't I probably would of stayed in Sunnydale. Wouldn't have teamed up with Angel. Wouldn't have received the visions. Wouldn't have all these nifty half-demon powers."

Angel held up a hand to halt any further conversation. He pressed a finger against his lips. 'Something's coming,' he mouthed.

How could he know? Sam could hear a- wait. Sam tensed. There was a rustling sound about 5 yards to their left. With practiced ease she slipped into her military- Major Carter mode. She felt Cordelia tense beside her.

The rustling grew closer.

Cordelia shifted so most of her weight was the balls of her feet. She leaned close to Angel. "Demon?" She whispered.

Angel nodded. He lowered himself into a crouch. His heightened senses focused on every little sound and movement. He could hear the sharp breaths that Sam and Cordy were taking; the rapid beat of their hearts. He could smell their soaps and perfume, scents much more pleasant than the stench of death and decay that lingered here.

Cordelia grabbed his shoulder. She knew what he was about to do, and she didn't like it. Angel turned his head to look at her and covered her hand with his and squeezed. Reluctantly Cordelia let go and backed up.

The demon neared. It's footsteps could now be hears as well as the crinkling of a paper bag.

Angel pounced, legs pushing him high into the air. He sailed over the headstone and landed heavily on the demon with a growl. The demon squealed in fright from beneath him. Angel leapt to his feet, bringing the demon with him. He had a firm grip on the demon's collar, though firm wouldn't be the word to describe this guy.

The demon was a mass of skin folds. Folds of loose skin surrounded even his beady red eye and canine like ears. Luckily for them he wore clothes, obscuring what was sure to be the more obscene.

Angel tightened his hold on the demon's flannel shirt and faded red undershirt, nearly choking him. "What are you doing here?" Angel asked menacingly.

The demon shook harder in Angel's grasp. "Nothing, honest. I was just heading back to my crypt after going to the store for snacks. The Discovery channel has a special about cats."

Angel shook him.

"I'm telling you the truth. I swear! I wasn't trying to hone in on your turf or anything."

Angel growled low in his throat.

"I'm friend's with the slayer!" This came out in a high-pitched rush. "If anything happens to me she'll be very upset!"

"I don't believe you."

Cordelia snapped her fingers. "You're Clem!"

Clem looked over at Cordelia. "Yeah, hi. Nice to meet ya."

"Angel, out him down." Cordelia commanded. "Buffy's told me about you."

Angel let go of Clem's shirt and slunk back, unhappy but still keeping one careful eye on the other demon.

"Really?" Clem asked, pulling his shirt back into place. "How is she? I haven't seen that girl for near a week now. Last I heard Xander was coming home soon."

"Oh, he's home. There was just a distraction of the hellmouth variety. Brought us from L.A. I'm Cordelia, by the way." She held out a hand for him to shake.

Clem's eyes widened. "Oh! You're Cordelia! I've heard all about you. You've recently joined us as a half-demon yourself."

Cordelia shrugged. "Last couple of years. Wasn't like it was hard or anything. Just had to convince the PTB that I knew what I was doing." Cordelia suddenly changed tracks. "The vampire that was just throttling you is Angel."

"Hi." Clem gave him a little wave.

Angel scowled.

"And this is one of Xander's friends from work, Major Samantha Carter."

Sam held out ah and. "Just Sam, please." Her eyes were still wide with shock and as Clem took her hand her mind automatically categorized. 'Warm, slightly moist and a surprising firm handshake, considering.'

"So you work with Xander?" Clem questioned. "Must be interesting."

"It has its moments." Sam smiled to herself.

Angel crossed his arms over his chest. "I was her friend first."

Cordelia snorted. "Oh, please. You and Buffy were never friends. At least, not until last year. So, you like cats, huh?" The last was directed at Clem.

Clem bent to pick up his snacks. "Yeah, but I have to cut down. Cholesterol… Uh, morals, I meant morals." He grabbed a packet of cheesy chips.

Sam's head turned so fast she was sure she gave herself whiplash. "You eat cats!"

"Not anymore!" Clem said defensively. "I'm on a strict diet. Toning up."

"Toning up?"

Cordelia picked up a packet of chips and arched an eyebrow at him. "Strict diet?"

Clem took the packet from her. "And the occasional indulgence never hurt anyone. Oh, would you look at the time. I have to go. Tell Buffy I said hi."

"Will do. It was nice meeting you. Enjoy your program."

"Bye."

Clem gave them a jaunty wave and continued his way through the headstone.

"He seems nice," Cordelia commented.

"Yeah, real nice." Sam was shocked. He ate cats, for crying out loud!

Angel grumbled to himself.

"Stop sulking, Angel." Cordelia flashed her thousand-watt smile. "Come one, we've got more patrolling to do."

xxxxx

"This is fascinating." Daniel traced the inscription on the wall of the mausoleum. "This dialect was reputed to have died out in the 12th century."

"You'd be surprised what you can find in Sunnydale." Xander told him.

"Indeed, Captain Harris. I find this to be a most unusual town."

"You don't know the half of it, T." Xander looked up. "Got anything yet, Wills?"

Willow stood on top of the mausoleum, hands outstretched and hair flowing in the slight breeze. Her eyes snapped open.

"Xander! Behind you!" Her cry came from both her mind and her mouth.

The three men turned. And were faced with two ravenous, crazed vampires, grave dirt still clinging to their burial clothes.

Daniel couldn't help but let out a startled yelp as he saw the wild amber eyes and protruding forehead.

Teal'c whirled into action, the collapsible staff he had found at Buffy's place clicking together. The staff hit one vampire in the face, shattering her nose, and knocked the legs out from beneath the other. Xander dropped his axe and pulled out a stake. He punched the female vampire in her already broken nose. She hissed and threw a sloppy punch at him. Xander grabbed the arm in both hands and brought it over his knee. The vampire grunted and pulled her arm back, cradling it against her stomach. The vampire charged and Xander decided to use an old fallback. He let the vampire collide with him and knock him to the ground. Vampire dust showered over him.

Teal'c's large hand was thrust in his face. "Are you injured, Captain Harris?"

Xander grabbed the hand and 'ouffed' as he was pulled to his feet. "I'm fine, thanks. Just a little dusty. What happened to the other one?"

"Daniel Jackson and I dispatched him."

Daniel grinned proudly and removed his dusty glasses.

"Willow, how did you- Willow!" Xander turned in a circle. "Where's Willow? Will-"

Willow rounded the mausoleum at a run and jumped into Xander's arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and burying her face in his neck.

Xander braced his weight on his back and rubbed her back. "Hey, hey. What's wrong?"

Willow sighed, her hot breath brushing his neck. "You're right. I don't want to fight any more."

"Not that I'm not grateful, but what's brought this on?"

"You could have died!"

"It was just a vampire. Nothing we haven't faced a thousand times before."

"It just takes one to kill you." Willow reminded him.

Xander knew that all too well. He held her tighter.

"I love you, Xander Harris."

"I love you too, Willow Rosenberg."

Willow unhooked her legs and slid down. "Just… just be careful okay?"

"I promise." Xander ran a thumb under her eye, expecting it her damp. Her eyes were dry, but still incredibly sad.

Xander cleared his throat and cast an embarrassed glance at Daniel and Teal'c. Daniel smiled sadly.

Willow sniffed. "Sorry, I…"

_'Guys? Time to meet up. Stake any remaining vampires and return to the meeting spot. We'll be waiting.'_

Sometimes Buffy's timing really didn't suck.

xxxxx

Jack smiled as he saw his 2IC round a large granite monument. "Hey, Carter. How was your patrol?"

"Uneventful, sir." She grinned. "Except for when Angel tackled one of Buffy's friends."

"Oh, Clem says hi." Cordelia told Buffy.

Buffy cast a reproving glance at Angel. Angel crossed his arms and blatantly pouted.

Jack moved closer to Sam. "They didn't organize a meeting time, did they?"

"No, sir."

"And there's no sign of radios."

"No, sir."

"This isn't the smallest town in the world."

"It only has one Starbucks, sir."

Jack gave her a look.

"Sorry, sir."

Jack ran a hand through his hair. "Betcha Al, Danny and Teal'c show up any minute now."

They both looked around expectantly.

"Any minute now," Jack repeated.

They looked around again.

"Maybe-" Sam was cut off by the arrival of Willow, Xander, Daniel and Teal'c. There was a large, excited grin on Daniel's face.

"Bet ya a dollar he found some fascinating discovery." Jack said to Sam, sotto voce.

Sam smiled. "I don't think so, sir. I recognize that grin just as well as you do."

"Rats, busted." Jack quickly took a step away from Sam as he realized how close they were.

"Jack, Sam! You guys won't believe what I've found. In 1308 the Brothers of the Turned Oak were destroyed when a fire swept through their monastery. It destroyed everything, even the rare scrolls that contained the last of an ancient Sumerian dialect. But there's a mausoleum that's covered with inscriptions that match all known records and descriptions of that dialect!"

"Interesting." Sam's eyes tracked from Willow to Buffy to Angel and Cordelia. She shared a knowing look with Jack. Something wasn't quite right here.

"Isn't it?" Daniel's eyes sparkled.

Xander bounded over, wide grin unimpeded by the cut across his cheekbone. "Hey, we're about to move out. It's been a slow night."

"Slow night?" Jack repeated incredulously.

Xander's grin got wider. "How many did she track down, sir?"

"Double digits."

Xander laughed and shook his head. "They all want to bag Slayer, sir. But they don't realize that she's the one that bags them."

"What about demons?" Daniel asked.

Xander missed how Daniel was focused on a spot just over his shoulder. "Oh, she slays 'em just as good as vamps, but they don't tend to track her as well as vamps."

Daniel raised one arm and pointed over Xander's shoulder.

Xander turned and paled at the sight of the horde of large, well muscled demons, with particularly long and vicious looking talons.

"Aww, crap."


End file.
